Born for Trouble
by darkphoneix
Summary: Someone wants Ranma dead? Ranma is a Mage? Just what is going on here?
1. Born for Trouble 1

  
  
"Jupiter, Nova Bomb!!! cried Sailor Jupiter. The massive sphere of lightning that gathered in her raised hand illuminated the night, casting an eerie blue-white light. She hurled the sphere like a baseball towards the slow moving yet powerful demon.   
  
It never knew what hit it. One minute the demon was lumbering towards a group of frigthened pedestrians who had taken coverin an alleyway and in the next he was reduced to a smoldering pile of ash.  
  
Jupiter gave herself a pat on the back. That was the third demon she'd destroyed in less than a week. Neither Mars or Mercury had even had time to arrive and offer their assistance. She ducked into an abandoned coffee shop and transformed, exchanging the black and green bodysuit and its armor with her new Furinkan High School uniform. Well from now on they would have to handle demons in Juuban. This time she'd gotten lucky, running accross the attacking monstrosity after picking up the deposit for her old apartment. If she rushed she could still make it to her first day at a new school on time.  
****  
  
Ranma nearly screamed. It was his last year at Furinkan and his last in Tokyo if he could manage it. But, even though he'd graduated last year, at the front gates stood Kuno. New students nervously slipped past the arrogant kendoist in his traditional robes.  
  
"I see that my appearance doth strike fear into your heart, Vile Saotome!" he called out in triumph."Now free my beloveds from your unholy grasp or I shall smite the like the lowly worm that you are!!" From his right sleeve, Kuno pulled a short metal cylinder with strange symbols carved all along its surface. Holding it before him, he twisted the bottom and a three foot blade of yellow light sprang from the end. A low hum could be heard in the air, as if they were standing under high voltage power lines.  
  
A light saber! The idiot had a Kami forsaken light saber!"Geeze Kuno, where'd ya get your new toy?" Ranma taunted.  
  
"Silence! How dare you mock this most righteous blade, a gift from the gods! With its touch you will finally be scoured from the earth." With a wordless cry he launched himslef at Ranma.  
****  
  
All the students, new and old, had put considerable distance between themselves and the soon to be combatants. One of them, though, rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet.  
  
Makoto fought the desire to jump in and stop the fight. The Shakesperean reject with the magic sword couldn't be too skilled, but the other boy, who was remarkably cute, could really get hurt by his attacker's blade. If she got in a fight now, for whatever reason, her poor record could get her expelled before attending a single class and by the time she could get away and transform into Jupiter the fight would be over. With no other option, Makoto stood with her classmates, readying herself to give first aid if necessary.  
  
Her opinion of the swordsman and his opponents quickly changed. The boy moved faster than anything she had ever seen, becoming an unrecognizable blur as he avoided the sword. Even when the speed of his attacker increased the boy continued to weave himself around the killing blows. By now the fight had moved across the street and was interfering with traffic.  
****  
  
Growing tired of the old game, Ranma finally went on the offensive. Darting forward, he punched Kuno solidly in the gut, doubling him over adn causing him to drop his light saber. Ranma bent down and retrieved the now inactive metal cyclinder."Can't let you get ahold of this again," he told the wretching Kuno. With a technique stolen from one of his many rivals, he slipped the cylinder up his sleeve where it disappeared.  
  
Ranma left Kuno on the sidewalk and jumped across the street then bounded across the courtyard in another, alighting himself on the windowseal of his classroom. Akane was already there, scowling at him. She must've came in during the fight."What's your problem?" he asked hatefully. Akane wasn't his favorite person. In fact, she'd been near the bottom for over a year. Ryoga had attacked him in his sleep with a spiked mace, sending him to the hospital for naerly a week. It had taken that long for his broken leg to heal, not to mention the punctured lung and broken ribs. Then when the damned pig had shown up again and Ranma was about to kill him, Akane had jumped in and told him to 'Leave poor Ryoga alone. It was your fault, anyway!'. Their relationship had been in the gutters majorly after that. The fathers had only turned up the pressure a couple dozen notches after that on the whole marriage thing. And the other girls were still on their campaign to win him by any means necessary.  
  
"Hmph!" Akane snorted in response, not daining to look at him any longer.  
  
Ranma found a seat on the back row next to the window. Looking out and down into the courtyard, he watched as the last students hurried into the building. He caught a glimpse of a purple haired girl in a school uniform. Oh Kami no!  
  
"Ranchan!" cheered Ukyou. She rushed accross the class room and down the aisle, claiming a seat next to her beloved.  
  
Ranma hadn't even finished groaning when he heard,"Ranma, Shampoo here learn with you!" The bundle of Amazonian energy settled herself in the seat in front of Ranma.  
  
Life sucked. At least it did for Ranma. He was intelligent(sorta), attractive, and could wield a few godlike powers that most people couldn't dream of, but when it came to women, he had the worst luck in the history of mankind. At least Kodachi had been dealt with. He had to think Nabiki for that. The price was absorbently high, but kinda...nice. He still couldn't figure out why she had wanted to do 'that' before going off to college.  
  
Just before the late bell rang a tall brown haired girl walked into the classroom and took a seat in the front, next to Akane. Noticing Ranma looking at the new arrival, both Shampoo and Ukyou shot the back of her head such powerful glares that Ranma was suprised when she didn't drop dead. A few minutes later and after Hiroshi and Daisuke were sent into the hallway with buckets for being late, the teacher announced to the students,"Class, we have two new students this year. Makoto Kino and an exchange student from China, Xian Pu. If you two would please stand and introduce yourselves to the class..."  
  
"High, I'm Makoto and I look forward to getting to know you all."  
  
"Hello, Shampoo glad to be in same class as Airen. Nobody better forget," Shampoo warned.  
  
"Today I'll be going over what we'll be learning in the coming months..."  
****  
  
Makoto had walked slowly to her class after witnessing the fight. He couldn't be human. It was impossible. She couldn't even move that fast or jump that far and she was the most physically powerful of the Senshi, next to Haruka, but even she couldn't have matched this 'Ranma' that everyone was talking about. From all the conversations she heard in the hallway, he must be a legend.   
  
The classes went by in a blur, the teachers' droning tone of voice becoming an unrecognizable buzz as she fought to stay awake. Finally the class was dismissed for lunch. Bento in hand, she set out to find a nice tree to eat her meal under. Maybe she could meet a few people, possibly even make some new friends.   
****  
  
"Ranma Saotome, Prepare To Die!!!"  
  
Ranma rolled from his spot under the tree, sandwhich still in his mouth, and kickuped to his feet. Ryoga was still carrying the mace around. A long shock of white hair and the missing top to his right ear was the only evidence of how close the lost boy had come to being labotomized by the vacuum blade that Ranma had intended to kill him nearly a year before."P-chan, it's so nice to see you."  
  
Tearing his mace from the tree, which was now uprooted, it had become imbedded in Ryoga screamed,"Don't call me that!" From a large pouch at his side he pulled a number of hand sized metal disks."Die!" Heedless of the students behind Ranma, Ryoga threw the handful of razor sharp disks at his hated foe.  
  
"You damned idiot," Ranma cursed while catching the projectiles within his reach and reducing the ones that he couldn't to lumps of slag with bursts of super heated chi. Ranma returned the weapons to Ryoga at amaguriken speed, slicing two parallel lines in both sides of his face.  
  
Ryoga ignored the minor damage and closed the distance between himself and Ranma. He swung the heavy mace, now glowing yellow and green with chi, with a rabid ferocity, uprooting another tree, halving two and creating no less than three new gates in the school's outer wall.  
  
Ranma continued to dodge the deadly weapon until he was sure that no one would be injured by his next attack. When the opportunity presented itself he called,"Kijin Raishu Dan," and launched two vacuum blades, one after the other. The first impacted against the chi aura that surrounded the mace causing it to disperse. The second sliced through the unprotected steel at the handle, leaving Ryoga with only a handle.  
  
Without pause, Ryoga threw the useless handle to the ground and unholstered his umbrella. The renewed assault once again had Ranma dodging the blows that would have liquified a normal man.   
  
Ranma soon grew bored and began to let his guard down. The dagger that nearly imbedded itself in his throat brought him back to full diligence. It seemed that Ryoga was even more determined than usual to kill him. He heard a scream from behind him and saw that Ryoga's dagger was sticking in a girl's thigh to the hilt. His momentary inattention was all that Ryoga needed, allowing him to slam his umbrella into Ranma's shoulder. Ranma flew like a ragdoll into one of the few remaining trees. He got to his feet a few seconds later and just managed to avoid another volley of metal disks. Unsteadily, he leapt into the air, alighting on one of the gates.  
  
Ryoga sneered at Ranma, thinking that he was on the retreat. With all of his anger and depression to draw from, Ryoga formed a sickly green sphere of chi in his cupped hands. Thrusting his arms forward, he cried out,"Shi shi hokodan!" The sphere powered towards Ranma, driven by a beam of chi.  
  
Ranma couldn't keep the smirk from his face, Ryoga was just too predictable. Another leap carried him over the attack and high into the air. When Ranma was directly above Ryoga he used his battle aura and some clever movement to stop his arc. Now falling straight towards Ryoga, he poured chi into his extended foot."Meteor kick!" Ranma's attack drove Ryoga into the ground and created a thirty foot crater. Another succesful victory without endangering noncambatants.  
****  
  
Makoto couldn't bring herself to close her mouth. It just wouldn't shut. She had been in fights before. Mostly with demons and other assorted monsters, but a few humans too. Most of the students treated the fight like any other school yard fight, ignoring the ridiculous amounts of damage being done to the area, the inhuman speed and strength of the fighters, and the casual use of energy attacks. What were they anyway? They certainly weren't magic, she would've known. Two girls in particular had caught her attention.  
  
"Wow, Ryoga's really trying hard this time," the girl with the giant spatula accross her back had said.  
  
"Pig Boy too stupid to know he no can win against Airen," added the purple-haired Chinese girl.  
  
"Do you think we should help Ranchan? I wouldn't want him to get hurt." She unsheathed her spatula and held it as if it were weightless.  
  
The Chinese girl, Shampoo, that was her name, pulled two heavy looking wooden handled mace things from nowhere."Pig Boy better no hurt Airen or Shampoo kill."  
  
When Ranma plowed Ryoga into the ground, Makoto had had to shield her eyes from the dust and debris that was thrown into the air. She really wished that Ami was around, she could've figured out what was going on easily.  
****  
  
Ranma rushed the crying and bleeding girl to the infirmary. Someone had already run off to call the perimedics. When he barged into the small room the nurse on duty turned white as a sheet and fainted. Leave it to Furinkan to hire a nurse that was scared of blood.  
  
"It hurts," sobbed the girl.  
  
"Um, don't worry. I'll take care of you until the ambulance gets here." Ranma hit several pressure points along her hip and upper thigh, restricting blood flowed to a trickle of its normal pace. The wound stopped bleeding almost immediately. With that done, Ranma pulled the blade free so fast that his patient didn't even know what was happening until he threw the dagger into the trash can.  
  
"It doesn't hurt anymore," she said wonderingly. She did wince when Ranma taped a wad of gauze onto the wound.  
  
"I used some pressure points to cut off the blood to your leg. It'll wear off in a few minutes so make sure to tell the doctors."  
  
"Are you really Ranma?" the girl asked breaking the silence that had enveloped the room.  
  
"Yeah. Who are you?"  
  
"I can't believe that 'the' Ranma just saved my life," she said with little hearts in her eyes, ignoring Ranma's question.  
  
Ranma nervously backed away from the dumbstruck girl. He knew that look and it wasn't good. Right after backing out the open door a pair of men with large bags rushed into the room.  
****  
  
Ranma walked into his classroom ready to tell the teacher why he was late, but he found that the room was empty. He heard a commotion from outside and went to the window only to see a number of police officers digging Ryoga from his pit. Ranma opened the window and jumped from the seal to the crater edge.  
  
"Back away from the crime scene, young man," ordered one of the policemen.  
  
"Crime scene? This is where he," he pointed to Ryoga,"tried to kill me."  
  
"Were you invloved in the fight?"  
  
"Yeah. He tried to kill me. I defended myself," he explained as if talking to a child.  
  
The policeman regarded Ranma flatly, then said,"We'll need to take a statement. We would also appreciate it if you could tell us where all his explosives are, if there's any left that is."  
  
"Sure, but there aren't any explosives." It took nearly half an hour to answer all the questions they asked him. Waling into class a second time, Ranma was met with a round of applause.  
  
He had to endure the trip accross the room while being congratulated by the entire class. The trend changed when he actually reached his seat.  
  
"What were you doing with that girl?" demanded Ukyou. She idly twirled a spatula shuriken.  
  
"Bad bad thing happen to unfaithful Amazon husband," She mimicked Ukyou's handwork, but with a small knife that she slipped into a hidden sheath in her sleeve.  
  
Ranma gawked at them. How could they be so oblivious? She had been badly injured and bleeding. What did they expect of him? Probably to let her die rather than touching her."I'm gonna pretend you two didn't even say anything."  
  
They shared a look and turned a much fiercer one on Ranma."Ranchan, don't make us tell you ag-"  
  
"Shut up!" he whispered."Just shut up and leave me alone!"  
  
Ukyou jerked back as if he had slapped her, looking hurt. Shampoo had a smug grin plastered accross her face."Spatula girl leave Ranma alone. Shampoo take care of him."  
  
He turned to Shampoo."You too. Be quiet and leave me alone." Ranma was pleased to see that the Amazon sported the same hurt look. They needed some sense knocked into them.  
****  
  
"I can't believe that jerk picking on Ryoga-kun that way! Who does he think he is?" Akane said. Her battle aura wasn't quite visible to the naked eye, but it was close.  
  
"Who are you talking about?" Makoto asked the girl next to her. Surely she wasn't talking about Ranma.  
  
Akane answered,"Ranma, of course. He's always picking fights with Ryoga."  
  
"The same Ryoga that almost killed that freshman with the knife?" she returned defensively.  
  
"If Ranma wasn't so mean to him he wouldn't have done that. Besides, he shouldn't have dodged it," answered the short-haired girl matter of factly.  
  
Makoto was beginning to seriously consider finding a new place to sit, a place far from the delusional girl."How do you know Ranma?"  
  
"He's my fiance."  
  
Makoto's head made a resounding thump on her desk. How in the world could she be engaged to somebody she so obviously hates.  
  
"It's an arranged marriage. I would never be like one of his other fiances, always fawning over him. Damned baka hentai."  
  
Other fiances? What kind of rabbit hole had she fallen through."Other fiances? He's got more than one?"  
  
Akane laughed bitterly."There's Ukyou. She's the one with the spatula. Shampoo is the Chinese bimbo. And Kodachi who isn't here, but you probably saw her brother trying to kill Ranma with the sword this morning."  
  
Maybe he was a hentai. She had said that her marriage was arranged, though, maybe the others were as well."Are they arranged marriages also?"  
  
Another laugh."Ukyou is, he has to marry Shampoo because he beat her in a fight, and Kodachi has an arrangement with his father that makes her one too."  
  
Makoto refrained from saying that Ranma may not be a pervert, that he just had bad luck, but she doubted the girl would care what she said. She nodded agrement and began paying attention to the teacher who was ignoring the fact that no one was paying attention.  
****  
  
Makoto was in her new apartment after school when her wrist communicator began beeping. Turning it on revealed Ami."Ami-chan, I miss you already."  
  
Ami grinned and asked,"Do you miss us enough to let us come over and see your new place?"  
  
"Sure, come on over!" she enthused."I'll have some brownies baked. Tell Artemis and Luna I'll have them a bowl of cream and some tuna."  
  
"That's great Mako-chan. We'll be there in an hour." The tiny screen went blank.  
  
It was closer to an hour and fifteen minutes, but Makoto didn't care. Rei and Ami were the only other senshi, besides herself still alive, something that they never talked about and her only friends. Rei still had her long black hair in a tight braid and Ami's bluish black still brushed against her shoulders. She laughed at herself. Of course they hadn't changed. It had only been two days since she last saw them.  
  
"Wow, this place is a lot bigger than your other one," Rei said."She gently sat a duffel bag on a nearby couch. A very pregnant Luna ambled out, complaining about the ride. Artemis jumped up to her and began teasing her about being fat. He earned a catty slap for his trouble.  
  
"I was joking, honest," he whined, holding his nose with a paw.  
  
The girls ignored the cats as they began arguing with each other.  
  
"You guys won't believe what I saw today." Makoto waited until the two girls demanded playfully to be told."As soon as I got to school this guy with a light saber like in that movie attacked this other guy. They moved so fast, especially the other Ranma. That's the guy whou got attacked. Then Ranma took Kuno, that's the guy with the sword, down with one hit. Then at lunch this guy named Ryoga attacked Ranma. Ryoga was knocking over trees and stuff trying to crush Ranma with a huge mace. Ranma used some kinda energy blade to desroy it..."she continued telling them of her entire day,"...and he has four fiances."  
  
When it was over Ami leaned forward and laid the back of her hand against Makoto's head."Are you feeling all right, Mako-chan?"  
  
"You don't believe me?" she returned in shock.  
  
"No we believe you. It's just that we've never heard you talk about a boy so much without being in love with him. Does he look like your old sempai, too," answered Rei.  
  
"That is wierd isn't it? I guess I just sensed that he was taken or something, but you're right, he does look like my old sempai."  
  
"Are you sure that he isn't evil?" Luna asked. Artemis was dealt with now she wanted to get back into the role she was meant for.  
  
"Pretty much. Everybody I talked to seemed to know about Ranma. He's a legend. I'm not even going to tell you all the stuff I heard about him, you'd laugh for the rest of the night. From what they told me though, today was pretty much a standard day at Furinkan except with less fighting."  
  
"Goodness, out of the fire and into the frying pan." Ami shook her head in mock disapproval.  
****  
  
"I did not tell them to sit with me!" bellowed Ranma. Akane was currently trying to tenderize him with her mallet.  
  
"Don't lie to me! I saw it all. And I still haven't punished you for picking on Ryoga. Get back here!" She followed him around a corner only to find him gone.  
  
Ranma had used the umisenken to sneak out of the house and was now at the Nekohaten for his daily lessons. Suprisingly, it was these times that were the most peaceful for Ranma. Cologne had forbidden Shampoo and Mousse from bothering him during the seesions where she taught him how to better control his chi. She had extended that rule to all his suitors and rivals after the third visit from Kodachi.  
  
"Be cautious Son-in-law. There is powerful magic in Nerima," Cologne warned him almost as soon as he stepped into the lot behind the restaurant.  
  
Ranma shrugged it off."Why don't you show me how to sense magic? That way I could avoid it."  
  
She shook her shrivelled head."Not until you master the elemental chi abilities."  
  
"Okay, so what is it today? I don't have to make a yard gnome dance again do I?" The elemental chi abilities as she called them were extraordinary and very powerful, but the training was the most unorthodox of any he'd ever undertaken.  
  
"Not today." She waved her staff at a large tub of water."You've got to turn that into an ice sculpture of me using only your feet."  
  
When he finally stopped laughing, thinks to a considerable number of hits to the head, Ranma managed to ask how he was supposed to carry out his task.  
  
"This is one of the harder abilities to master. You'll have to use cold chi to freeze the water while using heavy chi to hold the water in the proper shape. Holding the shape is the hard part."  
  
"No crap," he said sarcastically."Ow!" Rubbing his head, he took off his slippers and dived head first into his work. Not literally.  
****  
  
"No no no," she chided impatiently. Over an hour of indiscriminate lumps of ice had given Ranma plenty of practice manipulating hot chi, but that wasn't the point of the exercise."Hold it in place and freeze it slowly."  
  
"Well could I at least put my feet in the water? It's hard controlling the chi through the metal." Not to mention that he was beginning to cramp up from not moving in so much time.  
  
"No you may not. Now I've got to go help Shampoo get ready for the dinner rush. When I get back I want a passable likeness of me or you'll have to make it twice as big." Cologne hopped off leaving Ranma alone.  
  
He could forge a sword from a lump of metal without touching it. Make the earth open up under someone and swallow them and any number of other things. Even float in mid-air. Cologne insisted that it would go no further than that, but he was determined to learn to fly. But control of water eluded him, his skill being only rudimentary. She had told him when he began the training that if he learned to control water well enough that he would be able to heal people of minor wounds like he automatically had been doing to himself for years.  
****  
  
"Can Shampoo take Airen something to drink great-grandmother?" Shampoo asked sweetly. That the water was spiked she forgot to mention.  
  
"For the last time, no. As repayment for you destroying his wedding I promised him that I would no longer interfere with his life. Since then Son-in-law has become an almost respectful student and is learning at a rate that will leave me with nothing to teach him in only a matter of months. I won't let you ruin the trust he has in me."  
  
"But great-grandmother," she whined", you no be interfering. Shampoo just being nice to Airen."  
  
"And where will he think the love potion mixed in with the water came from?"  
  
How had she found out?"Okay great-grandmother. Shampoo sorry."  
  
Hearing the bell ring, Cologne went to greet the early customers and very nearly blasted them from existance. From the three harmless looking girls, two had had some martial training, radiated huge magical auras. Fire around the long black-haired girl, water from her shorter companion, and lightning around the tall brown-haired girl."Welcome to the Nekohaten. My waitress is currently indisposed, but she'll be out in a minute." Only the fact that none of them carried any malevolent intent in their hearts saved them.  
****  
  
Makoto nearly reached for her henshin rod when the withered old woman hopped in front of them thinking that she was a demon or youma, maybe even a troll. When she welcomed them to her restaurant she calmed considerably.   
  
"I heard that this place is really great," she told her two friends.  
  
"They don't really serve cats here do they?" Artemis asked from his and Luna's carry bag.  
  
"No silly, that's just a name." Ami giggled, reaching down and scratching the cat's head.  
  
"Yeah dummy, have a little common sense," berated Luna.  
  
Ami leaned accross the table and whipered to the other two girls,"Poor Artemis. Luna sure is being mean to him."  
  
"I think its because she's pregnant and he's not," commented Rei.  
  
They were interrupted by a,"Welcome to Nekohaten, Shampoo take your order."  
  
"Hey Shampoo," greeted Makoto.  
  
"Mako-chan, who you're friends?"  
  
"She's Ami and this is Rei. Girls, this is Shampoo, one of Ranma's fiances."  
  
Shampoo squealed in delight. She loved talking about her Airen and since Makoto hadn't shown any interest in him earlier she could really cut loose."Ranma so strong fighter. Don't you think so Mako-chan?"  
  
"The best I've ever seen."  
  
"Airen too too handsome too," she added.  
  
Makoto nodded."Shampoo, you saw the fight today and know Ranma. Can you tell us how him and Ryoga did all that stuff?"  
  
"Airen and stupid Pig-boy train very very hard in martial arts. They learn to control their chi years ago, much better than Shampoo."  
  
It couldn't really all be martail arts, but she still asked,"Can you do anything like they did?"  
  
"Great-grandmother teach Shampoo many simple things, but Shampoo learn this one on her own." Shampoo held her hands a few inches apart and concentrated. A few seconds later a pinkish purple light began to form between them, eventually forming into a fist sized ball.  
  
"Shampoo!"  
  
"Aiyahh," she jumped in suprise and lost her focus causing the ball to disappear.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me you had begun mastering your chi?" Cologne asked her after hopping across the room.  
  
"Shampoo wanted to suprise great-grandmother." She smiled.  
  
Cologne smiled widely."I'm very proud of you, but that doesn't excuse you from your duties."  
  
"Shampoo talking to new friend Mako-chan and forgot, sorry."  
  
"Don't worry child, I'm not upset. Just take their orders and you can talk while they eat." She hopped back into the kitchen.  
  
Makoto and the other girls ordered their ramen and waited for Shampoo to return.  
  
"That was unusual," Rei said when they were alone.  
  
"She's nice," Ami added.  
  
"Yeah she is, but did you see what she did? How did she do it Ami?" Makoto asked.  
  
"I can answer that," said Rei."Sorta. When I do my fire readings I use a small amount of chi. I can't imagine how much a person would need or how well they would need to control it, but that was chi, I felt it."  
  
"That old woman, Shampoo's great-grandmother, do you think she could teach us how to use our chi?"  
  
"I don't think so, Ami. It took years for me to manipulate a small amount. Shampoo and Ranma must've devoted their whole lives to mastering their chi. Grandfather couldn't even come close to what I saw her do and he's older than dirt."  
  
Shampoo arrived with a bowl of steaming Ramen in each hand and one balanced on her head. With a flurry of motion she had each bowl sitting in front of its porper customer. Then Shampoo hurried back into the kitchen to return a few secomds later with their tea. Once they were served she sat in the empty place beside Ami.  
  
"Sorry Shampoo took so long. Shampoo watching Ranma practice behind Nekohaten."  
  
"That's okay," Makoto said between mouthfuls of noodles.  
  
The girls spent the rest of the time before the dinner crowd came in talking about Ranma and other wierd stuff that happens in Nerima.  
****  
  
Cologne didn't know what to think about Shampoo befriending one of the strange girls, but set that problem aside in favor of planning out how to better train her great-granddaughter. She hopped into the back expecting to see a more presentable, but still unpassable lump of ice. Cologne was suprised, however, to see that not only had Ranma made a near perfect copy of her right down to the wrinkles, he had also made a copy of Happosai. The really bad part was that the two ice figurines were locked together in a passionate kiss. Ranma was nowhere to be seen. Well, she'd find out just how much he liked the advanced bakusai tenketsu training tomorrow.  
****  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Born for Trouble 2

  
  
Already a week of the new school term had gone by and Ranma found himself more miserable than any time in recent memory. Ukyou and Shampoo spent all their time at school pestering him and all their free time out of school pestering him. Akane still wouldn't forget his fight with Ryoga and seemed even more upset when she found out that the directionally challenged boy was being detained at a local psychiatric hospital. Akane made life at the Tendo home a living hell of attempted abuse-thankfully the training Cologne had subjected him to made him mostly impervious to her attacks-and constant verbal warfare. Only the time he spent at the Nekohaten-which also drew flak from Akane-provided any relief. And that was not in the least bit pleasant. Not after the ice sculpture joke. He still shuddered at the memory of the following days training. Who knew that steel plating and cannon balls could be so painful? Now there were reports of an armored chick prowling the city at night.  
  
On the ground Akane bristled at being ignored. For the third time she said,"I'm coming with you to the Nekohaten today. I don't trust you and the bimbo to be alone together!"  
  
Ranma snapped out of his reverie."Don't even go there Akane. It's none of your business and you know it," he replied to Akane's demand.  
  
"It's none of my business that my fiance is screwing around behind my back?!" Allowing him no time to respond, Akane pulled her mallet and and drew it back to belt him across town. Her white-knuckled grip went slack, turning into a clenched fist as the wooden handle disintergrated into a fine powder.  
  
"Didn't even have to touch you," taunted Ranma."That's what Cologne has been teaching me."  
  
Akane disregarded the pile of dust that was once her mallet and asked coldly,"And what is the bag of bones getting out of the agreement?"  
  
Ignoring the question, Ranma ran the last few feet of fence and with a prodigious leap alighted himself upon front steps of Furinkan. He turned around to wave spitefully at Akane who was running to catch, but had barely entered the school grounds.  
****  
  
Makoto was sitting under a tree with Shampoo eating lunch like the pair had been doing for three days. The bubbly Chinese girl had asked to sit with her when Ranma had made it plain to all his fiances that he was to be left alone during lunch.  
  
"For stealing my Shampoo, Die!" the cry was the only warning that Makoto had as a glowing yellow disk whizzed over her head by the scantest margin and passed cleanly through the tree she was leaning against.  
  
Shampoo was up in an instant, her bonbori as Makoto had learned they were called, in hand and a look of absolute fury on her face."Stupid Mousse," she called out to the unseen attacker."Shampoo no yours! Mousse almost kill Shampoo's friend Mako-chan."  
  
Makoto eyes caught sight of the weapon that had nearly beheaded moving in a wide arc towards the school roof. A moment after she pointed it out she was stunned to see her friend launch herself to the top of the school from with a single flat-footed leap.   
****  
  
Ranma saw the attack to late to interfere with it, but he did manage to see its origin. He found Mousse gazing expectantly over the edge of the roof, no doubt waiting to see his hated rival for Shampoo's heart killed. He cleared his throat loudly and announced himself,"Over here Quackers."  
  
Mousse spun around and without hesitation threw a quarter ten yen coin sized disk at Ranma from each sleeve of his robes. Each one erupted into two foot blades of energy a moment later. Even as he dodged them, Ranma noted that the metal they were composed of had the same dull sheen of the sword he had taken from Kuno and that the energy they produced was the same bright yellow. His danger sense barely saved him, though, when as the two deadly disks passed him they doubled in size, forcing Ranma to throw himself back onto the roof.  
  
"Stop being a coward, Saotome, and fight me like a man."  
  
"A coward!" roared Ranma in the process of standing."Who's the one throwing around magic frisbees?" Ranma saw the first of the disks that Mousse had curving around and decided to himself that he wouldn't warn Mousse if the boy happened to be in its path. The hope of avoiding a fight was dashed when it stopped above his attacker's head, reverted to its inert state, and began floating just above his shoulder.  
  
"Mousse!" Shampoo stood on the roof's edge, glaring at Mousse with a look that promised so much pain that Ranma nearly felt sorry for him.  
  
"Sh-Shampoo, what are you doing here?" Mousse stammered. The other two disks took a position similar to the first over his shoulder while his back was turned.  
  
"Mousse almost kill Mako-chan. Better have good explanation!" She raised her bonbori menacingly.  
  
"I was just trying to free you, my love, from Saotome's evil clutches," he pleaded.  
  
Shampoo began advancing on him. A pleased smile bloomed on her face when she noticed that Mousse had started to tremble.  
  
Ranma took the opportunity to come behind the blind boy, smack him in the back of the head, and grab the disks. He slipped them into storage along with Kuno's mysterious new sword.  
  
Shampoo tried to run up and glomp him, but she saw him shake his head and stop. She could respect his personal space like he had told her too. It was just really hard.  
  
He offered her a slight smile and glared at Mousse's unconsious back before jogging to the edge of the roof and jumping down.  
****  
  
Makoto had recovered from her earlier brush with death, it happened often enough, and was about to part ways with Shampoo to meet with her friends from Juuban when a red-headed girl wearing the same chinese clothes that Ranma usually wore, darted past them. Akane, Ranma's only mean, nonaffectionate fiance, followed closely behind the girl, waving a now familiar mallet. Maybe she was a new fiance."Hey Shampoo, who's Akane chasing after?"  
  
Shampoo scowled at Akane's departing back."Violent girl should be nice to Ranma."  
  
"I agree, but who's the girl that she's chasing?"  
  
"Oh you don't know about Ranma's curse," Shampoo laughed."Shampoo suprised you not find out by now."  
  
"What curse?"   
  
"Jusenkyou curse. Shampoo, Ryoga, Mousse, and Ranma each have one. Shampoo turn into a cat when hit with cold water, Ryoga turn into pig, Mousse turn into duck, and Ranma turn into girl."  
  
Makoto was tempted to believe the girl. After seeing what she had in her short life, she'd leard to have an open mind about supernatural stuff. It was this philosophy that that kept her sane."Quit pulling my leg, Shampoo. There's no such thing as curses."  
  
What did pulling her leg have to do with anything? Shampoo shrugged it off as a Japanese thing and said,"Come to Nekohaten with Shampoo. Shampoo show her curse. Mousse still in full body cast so you just see Shampoo."  
  
She didn't think they would care if she was a few minutes late so Makoto agreed. The Nekohaten was empty of customers as it usually was at that time of day and they had no trouble getting into the kitchen. Cologne, Shampoo's great-grandmother, was stirring a large pot of steaming broth.  
  
"What are you girls up to?" Cologne asked as they passed.  
  
"Mako-chan no believe in Jusenkyou curse. Shampoo prove to her."  
  
Cologne smiled."So you finally found out about those. May I ask from who?"  
  
"I saw Akane chasing this girl wearing Ranma's clothes. I asked Shampoo who the girl is and she told me. It is hard to believe." Makoto felt uncomfortable in Cologne's prescence. She felt like the woman was constantly scrutinizing her. Not to mention that there was an almost tangible aura of power around the woman.  
  
"Ah, Son-in-law. It suprises me that you haven't found out sooner."   
****  
  
Shampoo had handed her two glasses. One was full of hot water and the other cold. Her instructions were simple enough: Pour the cold water on Shampoo, then pour the hot water on Shampoo-neko. Simple really. But when she finally brought herself to pour the water over the girl's head she was unprepared for the transformation that took place. Shampoo disappearred into pile pile of clothes. A moment later the clothes began to move around until a small, white and purple cat popped its head from under the skirt of Shampoo's school uniform.  
  
"S-Shampoo." Makoto jumped back causing some of the hot water to slosh out over the rim of the glass. It splashed the cat which in a flash was a naked Shampoo.  
  
Shampoo scrambled to get into her wet clothes. She said to Makoto,"Shampoo tell you so." She smiled at her friends slack jawed appearance.  
****  
  
Waiting for Cologne to arrive, Ranma rolled one of the disk weapons that he took from Mousse over the back of his knuckles. He held another in his left hand, examining the tiny symbols etched on its to faces. He heard the 'tap tap' of Cologne's staff as she approached and was about to stow the devices away when he felt a tap on his shoulder made him jump.  
  
"What have you got there?" Cologne asked curiously.  
  
Damn, she'd used that trick again. It couldn't really hurt to show her the things. it wasn't like he knew what they were. Ranma held the two small disks out for Cologne to see and was rewarded with a look of such utter astonishment on the woman's face that it would have been comical if he wasn't so worried about what could actually suprise her so much. She'd barely raised an eyebrow when he had told her about the fight at Jusendo.  
  
"Where did you get those?" she demanded in a fierce whisper.  
  
"Mousse tried to kill me with them today."  
  
Cologne looked really really angry. Come to think of it, he'd only seen her make a battle aura twice."Do you have anymore of them?"  
  
Ranma pulled the other one and after thinking about it, Kuno's sword, from subspace. Now she knew that he'd mastered Hidded Weapons, but there was really no helping it. Really big battle aura.  
  
"What exactly do they do?" Her voice sounded strained.  
  
"This," he waved the light saber,"made an energy sword when Kuno twisted the bottom part and the disks made really big energy disks that came back to Mousse like boomerangs."  
  
Cologne began mumbling to herself.  
  
Ranma could only catch small pieces of what she said like,"They'll be pissed," and Ranma will be enducted."  
  
Finally, Ranma lost patience and asked,"What are you going on about?"  
  
"Follow me inside, Ranma."  
****  
  
Ranma followed Cologne up the stairs that led to the sleeping quarters above the Nekohaten. They stopped in front of a door that had symbols carved on its edges that resembled those from the weapons Cologne had confiscated. She opened the door with a tap of her staff, revealing a room that easily rivalled the size of the entire building.  
  
"How?" he gaped. It was impossible. Okay, maybe not impossible, but damned close.  
  
"Get in here and I'll explain it to you later."  
  
Once again Ranma followed the Amazon. She led him down a haphazard path, between stacks of books, tables piled high with unusual devices, and around roped off areas where cauldrons full of foul smelling substances bubbled. On the far side of the room they stopped in front of a large silver ring that was partially imbedded in the stone floor.  
  
"Are you going to explain all this to me now?" he asked exasperatedly. What was going on?  
  
"Be patient." She placed her and on the ring and glowed for a brief moment.  
  
Ranma felt Cologne channel her chi into the ring, but couldn't figure out what she was doing.  
  
When the ring started to emit a slight humming sound Cologne drew her hand away."Now Ranma, follow me."  
  
Ranma was getting tired of being told to follow her around like a puppy. It was kinda nice being referred to by name, though. With a sigh he walked through the ring expecting to run headfirst into the wall.  
****  
  
He dropped into a low combat stance and hardened the air directly in front of himself to dampen any physical blows while lacing it with chi to protect himself from any minor attacks.  
  
The room that they had appeared in was close enough in size to the one they had left so that Ranma couldn't see a difference. There were also a dozen men and women, all armed with staves, swords, and other assorted weapons, each with a bright battle aura surrounding them. He looked to where Cologne should be and was confronted by a woman in her early thirties with jet black hair who bore a striking resemblance to Shampoo.  
  
"What in the hell is going on?!" Ranma abandoned his earlier defenses and brought his battle aura to bare. It flowed around him like golden fire, turning to mist along its blurred edges. He moved so fast that the only sign of his passage was a golden trail of chi and dived through the ring that had brought him to wherever it was. Nothing happened. Ranma was forced to flip around and kick off the wall to avoid an embarrassing collision.   
  
"Calm down Ranma," the woman said after he settled down on top of the ring.  
  
"Cologne, if you really are Cologne, you have about ten seconds before I start hurting people." Much to Ranma's chagrin the other people in the room began to laugh."You think this is a joke," he demanded. White fire engulfed his arms and coalesced into a pulsing globe of white light in each hand. They shut up.  
  
"This place is where those weapons came from. We came to find out who supplied them to Mousse and Ryoga."  
  
"And why are you young? Where are we? Who are all these people? I don't like being kept in the dark."  
  
"Show some respect boy!" demanded one of the men. He levelled his plain wooden staff at Ranma and a bolt of lightning erupted from it towards him.  
  
Ranma reacted only by raising his right hand and the white energy sphere over his head. The lightning changed directions and was absorbed by the sphere when it made contact."Cologne. I thought we had some mutual trust."  
  
"Indeed we do. If you still trust me please come down her and I'll explain what I can."  
  
The two spheres tranfered themselves from Ranma's hand's to a place above each shoulder, he then flipped forward to land next to Cologne."Call off the goons," he told her. The sound of multiple sets of teeth grinding together reached Ranma easily.  
  
"The 'goons' are actually an escort of honor for you and I. They are here to lead us to the Council Hall." She started walking towards the only exit in the smooth gray walls of the room.  
  
This time Ranma walked at her side, determined not to be led around."That's one question answered." They were walking down a dimly lit hallway now. Ranma could still see that the walls were made of gold veined marble, even in the low light.  
  
"We're currently several hundred miles east of the Bermuda Triangle in the underwater city of Atlantis. Not the original Atlantis mind you, but that's what we called it when we found it two thousand years ago," she replied evenly.  
  
Ranma didn't know who was crazier; Cologne for expecting him to believe the story or himself for actually believing it."And your age?"  
  
She smiled at him for no reason that he could fathom."Oh, I'm about three hundred and seventeen." Their little party reached a cavernous room. The six men who were in front of them veered to the right and the six women behind them turned to the left, but Cologne made no move to change her course, and she and Ranma continued walking straight.  
  
"Is the pervert like you? I meen does he look old, but is really young?" Ranma asked while at the same time gaping at the room they were in. The ceiling, he realized, was transparent allowing him to see a multitude of fish and even a shark swim by. The room was illuminated by hundreds of glowing glass balls that floated randomly a dozen feet above the floor. The walls were the same gold streaked marble.  
  
Cologne laughed heartily."Oh no, not by a long shot. In fact I modeled my aged appearrance after his."  
  
Ranma didn't ask anymore questions as they walked to the huge gold doors on the other side of the room. Instead, he sorted through all the sights he had seen and things that Cologne had been hinting at for almost a year. An idea, not a good one, but an idea nonetheless, came to him."It's magic," he said when they were halfway to the door.  
  
"What is?" she asked in response.  
  
"What you've been teaching me. You've been teaching me magic all along and I didn't even know." It really was a bad idea.  
  
Cologne arched an eyebrow."What is magic?"  
  
"I don't know for certain. I know that what you've taught me is magic, but I know that it can't effect my curse, which is also magic. Maybe it's a lot of different things." He shrugged helplessly.  
  
"Very good. I wasn't expecting you to figure that out for a few more months. Magic comes in as many forms as you can imagine, but few people believe in it."  
  
"So your a sorceress or witch or something?"  
  
"Those of us who practice our particular brand of magic prefer to be called mages. You and I are warrior mages."  
  
"Brand of magic? What does that meen?" A good idea afterall.  
  
"As I said, magic comes in many forms. Those who can control magic control different forms. Mages for example, use their internal energy, their chi as you and I recognize it, to attack and defend in an infinite variety of ways, but are limited by how much energy they have within themselves. Channellers draw from external energy sources. They tend to be linked to a specific location, drawing a particular form of mana from that place and can being able to channel it until they exhaust themselves. A man linked to a volcano would have a number of heat and fire based spells or abilities. Witches and Warlocks use the psychic energy of their minds to cast and create spells. Most Witches and Warlocks are very gentle and peaceful because they need a perfect mental balance to cast their spells or they risk destroying their own minds. Some people form a powerful psychic bond with an animal. From this bond they are able to draw energy and form it into an elemental form of attack and its equivalent defense. They are called sorcerers or sorceresses and are only limited by the strength of their familiars. Anyone with inborn magic is called a magi. They tend to be confused with mythilogical gods. Saffron was magi. The most powerful in history. Artificers have no magic of their own, but for some reason anything that they craft with their hands gains random magical properties. They range from being able to turn the user invisible to making the user double in size, but the one constant among them all is that they act as a lens for all forms of magic. My staff is such a lens. It's my staff's ability to create small illusions that has kept my agelessness hidden."  
  
Ranma's head was nearly spinning. He'd never suspected there to be so much to magic. Before it had been curses, potions, and some miscellaneous junk. Now there was a whole world of it."You said that there were a lot of different kinds of magic, but that's not that many different kinds of magic-users."  
  
"Most magic can't be controlled." The doors which now loomed over them began to swing open."Now be on your best behavior. You may be more than a match for any one of them, but they out number you a thousand to one."  
  
"What's happening now?"  
  
"You are being presented to the Council as a new mage. Once you gain membership in the Order you'll be gifted with a weapon and I'll be able to petition the Council to take action against the Attendent who gave Mousse and Ryoga their weapons."  
  
"What's an Attendent?" Ranma could through the partially open doors, see a room easily as big as the one he was currnetly in. This one was filled with people sitting in stadium seating, though.  
  
"Attendents are people who have enough Atlantean blood in them to operate the technology left here when the city was abandoned. Much of the remaining machinery is in disrepair and we have no notion of how to fix it. Most of what still functions generates power and maintains an atmosphere of fresh air for the city. A few things do, however, still operate. It's one of those that made the weapons."  
  
The doors were fully open now and Ranma could see that he was outnumbered more than a thousand to one. It was closer to two thousand."Do all these people stay down here?" he asked.  
  
"No. While we were in transit they arrived. I purposely slowed us so they would."  
  
"Just how much time has passed?" Even though he asked the question, Ranma feared the answer.  
  
"Two days."  
  
The only thing that kept Ranma from screaming in dismay was that he didn't want to embarass himself in front of so many people. The last time he'd disappeared from Nerima, an unlucky case of falling asleep on the train, troops had been called in to stop the rioting. No one was even looking at him, Ranma noticed. They were all chatting among themselves."Do you know what kind of hell Nerima is going to be when we return?"  
  
"I have some idea. I was there last time afterall."  
  
Fighting the urge to cry, Ranma continued on.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Born for Trouble 3

  
  
Ranma and Cologne finally stopped at the far end of the glass-domed room. There on a raised platform was a massive oak table. Six people sat in plain, high backed chairs. A seventh chair stood empty. It was quickly filled, though, as Cologne leapt onto the platform and took the a seat. The hum of numerous conversations suddenly disappeared and an awkward silence swept through the room.  
  
"Who comes before us today?" a white-bearded gaijin man in his middle years asked. He occupied the center chair.  
  
"Ranma Saotome," Cologne answered for him and for the first time since arriving in the underwater city, Ranma realized that he hadn't heard Japanese spoken once. Even his conversation with Cologne had been in another language. It was probably just more magic.  
  
"And who was his teacher?" an extremely dark-skinned man with a shaved head asked.  
  
"I was," Cologne once again answered.  
  
"Is he worthy to be a member of the Order?" the only other woman asked. Her hair was as red as his girl form's and was, Ranma decided, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  
  
"He is." Cologne again. Ranma dismissed the ritual for what it was, a waste of time.  
  
"Can he be trusted with our secret?" the giant of a man beside Cologne asked.  
  
"His honor is unquestionable."  
  
"Is he warrior, scholar, or guardian?" asked a dumpy little man with three chins.  
  
"Warrior."  
  
"How has he distinguished himself?"  
  
"Ranma is a warrior of legendary skill and an unrecognized master of fifteen martial arts disciplines. Saffron, the greatest of Magi, fell to him in battle when his knowledge of our craft was limited to a simple emotion based chi attack and the hiryu shoten ha." The previously quiet gathering of people seemed to erupt with questions and comments. It only lasted a few seconds before the white-haired man clapped his hands above his hands once, producing a resounding bang.  
  
The only man yet to ask a question, rose and walked down the platform's steps. He stopped and offered his hand to Ranma,"Be welcome young Ranma to the Order of Mages." This time no one stopped the thunderous applause. They lasted for several minutes before dying down.  
  
Ranma thanked the man and was about to ask Cologne what was next when she asked,"Would someone please escort Ranma to the armory? The Council has much to discuss."   
  
From the streams of people leaving through various exits a girl not much older than Ranma wearing a pair of jeans and a Hello Kitty tank top broke away. She took Ranma's arm and began leading him towards an unopened doorway. Ranma decided that she must be the red-head's daughter. Her hair was brown, but her face was virtually identical."Hi, I'm Margaret."  
  
"I guess you already know my name." Ranma was glad that so many beautiful girls had thrown themselves at him or being in such close proximity to Margaret would have been difficult/  
  
She laughed. It sounded like tinkling bells."Everybody knows your name. I even have a picture of you hanging on the wall in my room at home."  
  
Ranma blushed and asked,"What are you talking about?"  
  
"I live in Tomoboki. There's a little shop at the end of the street mother and I live on that sells posters and greeting cards. It's called Nabiki Inc. You're on most of the posters and some of the greeting cards.  
  
"Nabiki," Ranma growled."She's gone to far this time."  
  
"You know her?" Margaret asked curiously.  
  
"She's the sister of one of my fiances," he answered offhandedly.  
  
"'One' of your fiances?" she screeched, jerking her arm away."What are you, a pervert?"  
  
"Hey, it's not like I had a choice. The only one that wasn't arranged by my stupid father is the one to Cologne's great-granddaughter. I'm engaged to her because I beat her in a fight. Stupid Amazon laws," he grumbled.  
  
Margaret scrunched her face cutely and grabbed his arm back up."I'm sorry. Sounds like your in a pretty bad situation."  
  
"Yeah. Akane, Nabiki's sister, is really violent and she hates me. Kodachi is insane and Shampoo and Ukyou are head ober heels in love with me. I'm obligated by honor to marry all of them."  
  
"That's horrible!" She sounded genuinely sorry for him.  
  
"Don't worry about it. How about telling me what just happened back there?"  
  
"The ceremony?" Ranma nodded."Its been around for a really long time. I had to go through the same thing last year. Of course I didn't have the famous Cologne speaking for me."  
  
"But isn't your mom on the Council?"  
  
Margaret laughed again."That's my grandma silly. She was too busy to teach me."  
  
"You're not a warrior are you?" Ranma asked. He already knew that she wasn't, but he was trying to keep the pleasant conversation going.  
  
"Oh no! No fighting for me. The sight of blood makes me sick to my stomach. I'm a scholar, just like my mom. My dad is a warrior, though."  
  
"What do scholars and guardians do, anyway?"  
  
"Scholars do all kinds of things. Mostly, though, we observe and record human history. Guardians are assigned areas to keep safe from supernatural interference and take turns watching over Atlantis." They came to a plain wooden door with an armored guard on either side.  
  
Without speaking, one of the guards opened the door for them and returned to his original position. Ranma and Margaret walked into another one of the rooms like the one at the Nekohaten. The walls were lined with swords, staffs, knives, and any type of imaginable weapon. There were also racks off armor and cases off jewelry.  
  
"I don't use weapons," Ranma said.   
  
"You're a warrior and you don't use weapons?" she asked in disbelief.  
  
"I fight unarmed," he answered adamantly.  
  
"Well you don't have to get a weapon. My ring," she held up her hand so that he could see the simple gold band that adorned her left ring finger,"focuses my power as good as any weapon and lets me see through walls."  
  
Ranma didn't really want a ring. Maybe he could find a set of bracers or something. He saw in the center of the room a glass case with several miscellaneous items. There were several swords, two small ornate rods, and various bits and pieces of armor."Why are those closed up?" he asked Margaret.  
  
"Grandma told me that they're the only remnants of a kingdom that vanished thousands of years before Atlantis was ever constructed. No one has ever been able to bond to one, so they were put in the display."  
  
Ranma walked over to the case and lifted the lid. It wasn't even locked. He reached down and touched a large translucent band of crystal. At his touch it flared with sapphire light and like water, flowed up his hand, wrapping itself around his wrist. Once settled, it glowed brightly and steadily sapphire blue. All this occurred in the span of a second. In another second a second crystal band flew up to the hand holding the case open. The process was repeated and Ranma was left with a very conspicuous set of glowing wristbands.  
  
"Ranma," Margaret whispered reverently,"how did you do that? Why did you even try?"  
  
Ranma didn't know how or why. He did somehow know, though, that his new whatever they weres granted him the ability to teleport. There was also a lot more knowledge in his head than had been there before. Most of it was about a long dead kingdom, but with it came knowledge of how to do a few interesting things with his chi. To check the accuracy of his information, Ranma picked up a sword made completely of obsidian. He released a precise amount of chi into it and was not suprised when it became a silvery liquid that crawled slimily across his skin, moving from one hand to the other, then returned to its original state. Ranma didn't even have to look under his shirt to know that a black and silver dragon was now coiled around his chest."Cool."  
  
"'Cool'? Ranma that was amazing!" she squealed.  
  
Ranma reached into the case and pulled out a plain gold ring much like Margaret's,"Here. It won't focus your power anymore, but you'll be able to move really fast."  
  
"It won't work. We can only bond to one focus. We're only supposed to be able to bond to one," she said in confusion.  
  
"This isn't a focus. It's just a ring that lets you move faster than you should be able to. The more chi you put into it the faster you go." He handed the ring to her.  
  
"How do you know, Ranma?"  
  
"These things," he tapped his wristbands together,"put some info in my head. Watch." Ranma made the glow coming from the crystals dim until they only seemed to be blue crystal."They told me how to do that."  
  
Margaret slipped the ring onto her other ring finger and said,"Thanks Ranma."  
  
He scratched the back of his head a bit nervously and told her,"Don't worry about it. We're friends right?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
They walked out of the room and found Cologne and who Ranma assumed was Margaret's mom, waiting impatiently for them. Resembalance was really passed through her family. It was like seeing an older Margaret.  
  
"What took so long? You weren't fooling around with our newest Mage, were you?" asked her mom.  
  
Ranma and Margaret blushed badly and Margaret said,"Ranma discovered the most extraordinary thing..." and so she explained to them what had happened in the armory.  
  
Cologne shook her head and smiled wryly."Ranma Ranma Ranma, whatever am I going to do with you?" she asked.  
  
"Maybe we could get back to Nerima before there's a national emergency. We should probably bring a few Mages to help settle things down," he joked.  
  
"I'm sorry, but we can't leave for another few days. The other Councils have to meet and then the High Council will convene to determine your rank among the other Mages and within the Society as a whole."  
  
Ranma's hope of coming back to a reasonably intact Nerima fell. Then he remembered just how unhappy he was in the Tendo home. A little time away from the fiances would be nice. He fianlly shrugged and said,"Oh well. They'll just have to make do without me."  
  
"Where will you be staying Cologne-san?" Margaret asked.  
  
"My quarters have been readied by now, I believe. Ranma can sleep on the couch."  
  
"My brother's on his honeymoon and couldn't join us. I'm sure mother wouldn't mind if Ranma stayed in his room." She clasped her hands together and smiled innocently at her mother.  
  
"Don't you think Ranma should have some say in where he'll be staying?" her mother asked.  
  
Margaret blushed slightly. Ranma said,"I don't mind staying with you and Margaret."  
  
"Okay, it's settled. Margaret will show you to our quarters while Cologne and I finish talking."  
  
Ranma followed Margaret into a nearby corridor. It soon forked into three separate passages. Margaret pulled him down the left one for another hundred feet and past a few doors. She stopped at a non-descript door where she placed her hand on a small panel on the wall. The door slid open quietly and lights automatically lit the interior.  
  
"Wow, nice place," Ranma commented. The room they were in was furnished with expensive looking antiques. The gold veined walls gleamed and the crystal fixtures gave off a soft yello light.  
  
"It's a little old for my tastes. Mom likes it, though. When I'm assigned my own quarters I'm going decorate them to be more modern. You hungry?"  
  
"Starved."  
  
"Let's see what we've got in the pantry."  
  
The kitchen was as modern as any Ranma had seen. It also had one of those rooms like Cologne's in the Nekohaten-for a pantry. It looked like what Ranma imagined the stock room of a large grocery store to be."It's huge!" he exclaimed.  
  
Margaret giggled at his reaction."You should see one of the main storage rooms. They're really huge."  
  
"What could you need so much food for?"  
  
"The High Council has been buying food for years and preserving it with magic. Grandma told me that a whole bunch of the Psychics had a vision that one day there would be another world war. When that happens, we're all going to come live in Atlantis."  
  
That made sense in a bleak kinda way."Psychics? Aren't those the Witches and Warlocks?"  
  
"No. Witches and Warlocks use their psychic energy to do magic. Psychis use their's to do stuff like magic. Didn't Cologne tell you all this?"  
  
"I didn't even know that I was learning magic from her until less than an hour ago." Ranma tucked a bag of potato chips under his arm.  
  
"Do you know about the different kinds of magic-users that make up the Society?" Ranma nodded."The Psychics?" He shook his head."Okay. Psychics are different from us because they don't specialize in any particular field. There are different abilities they can have. Pyrokinesis is the ability to create and control fire. Telekinesis is the ability to move matter without touching it. Psychokinesis is like telekinesis, but it lets a person control machinery and electronic stuff from a distance. Let's see, what else is there." For a few seconds Margaret thought about other psychic abilities."Telepaths can read people's minds and Precognizants can see the future. There are other abilities that I can't remember."  
  
"How have they kept it all this a secret?" Ranma finally asked the quaestion that had been playing itself through his mind.  
  
"I haven't been a Mage long enough to know how everything works, but I do know that there are politicians all over the world who are members of the Society. The High Council spends a lot of money to bribe people also." She grabbed a handful of candy bars and a couple bottles of water.  
****  
  
"We really shouldn't leave them alone together for so long," Cynthia told Cologne."Their personalities are to compatible."  
  
"Don't worry about Ranma, he's used to pretty girls throwing themselves at him. My great-granddaughter does it on a regular basis. He's very honorable."  
  
"My Margaret isn't throwing herself at him!"  
  
"Hey, don't take it the wrong way. I was just trying to reassure you." soothed Cologne.  
  
"Sorry about that. We're just really protective of her, that's all," she apologized.  
  
"How is Kenji by the way?"  
  
"As infuriating as ever. I still love him, though." They continued towards Cologne's quarters."Have you told Ranma about his engagements?"  
  
"Not yet. It really doesn't matter. From what I've gathered from conversations with him over the past several months, he all but hates Akane and the other girls, including Shampoo, have alienated him beyond repair with there behavior. If he knew that he was no longer honor bound to marry any of them..." she let the thought trail off.  
  
"It'll also keep him in check around Margaret."  
  
Cologne shook her head at her friend's stubbornness.  
****  
  
Jupiter barely had time to bring up a dome of crackling energy before the hail of gunfire from the gang of looters hit her and the group of students she was escorting from the school to the relative safety of the park where her fellow Senshi and some of the insanely powerful martial artists from Nerima were making a stand. How the entire ward could become a warzone just because Ranma disappeared was beyond her mind to comprehend. Mercury was still trying to figure it out and she's a super genius."Chain lighting!" she called. From her outstretched hands ropes of lightning shot into the gang, jumping from one person to the other until they were all dead or unconscious.  
  
"You killed them!" a gril in the back accused.  
  
"Not all of them are dead. If they had there way, we would 'all' be dead," an older boy explained.  
  
Jupiter dropped the shield and said,"Come on, we've got to get to the park."  
  
When the group finally arrived, the students were escorted to a small camp near the center of the park by a police officer. Jupiter found Mercury and Mars talking with Ukyou.  
  
"This is a lot worse than the last time," Ukyou was telling them.  
  
"I hope the rioting doesn't spread any further. If it does, other wards may be affected," Mercury replied.  
  
"This is ridiculous. How could one boy cause all this trouble?"  
  
Shampoo who had just walked over to them answered,"Great-grandmother say that airen have very powerful life force. It bend other life forces around it. When airen go away all other people's life forces confused, make them do crazy things." She wiped the sweat from her brow then wiped some blood from one of her bonbori with a piece of cloth.  
  
"I wish she was here," Mercury said."Maybe she could do something to help us."  
  
"I'm telling you," Ukyou said angrily,"that old bag of bones is responsible for my Ranchan's disappearance!"  
  
"No accuse great-grandmother, stupid Spatual-girl!" Shampoo exclaimed.  
  
Jupiter and Mars pulled the girls apart before they could get in another fight.  
****  
  
-And in further news, the Nerima ward of Tokyo is experiencing its second day of almost nonstop rioting. The arrival of the Sailor Senshi has brought a lull in the violence, but the trend is showing evidence of reverting to its previous state-  
  
Margaret turned the channel before Ranma could become anymore depressed. He was really taking it hard. It wasn't his fault that Nerima was full of psychos.  
  
"I didn't imagine it could get so bad," he sighed.  
  
Attempting to change the subject, Margaret asked,"Do you think the Sailor Senshi are members of the Society?"  
  
"Nah. If I remember correctly, they're leftover princesses from the Silver Millenium," he answered without thinking.  
  
"What was the Silver Millenium?"  
  
"That's what people used to call the time during reign of the House of Serenity. The line of Serenity bore powerful Channellers every generation. From the Royal Palace on the moon they ruled the entire solar system for a thousand years. The Senshi were the princesses of their respective planets. They're still linked to their planets, I guess."  
  
"What happened to the kingdom?" Margaret asked.   
  
"I don't know. These things," he tapped the crystal wristbands together,"cut off right after the birth of Queen Serenity's daughter, Serenity."  
  
"That's where all the stuff in the armory that only works for you came from isn't it?"  
  
"It would work for a few other people too. Probably for the Senshi. That is where it's from though."  
  
Margaret quickly flipped through several adult channels. A few moments later the door slid open and Cologne and Margaret's mother, who he now knew was called Cynthia, walked in.  
  
"Cologne, I really think we should go back to Nerima. People are dying." Ranma was tempted to teleport back using the wristbands, but he wasn't sure he could control them properly yet and materializing in a wall wasn't on his list of things to do.  
  
"As bad as this is going to sound, I'm going to say it anyway. There is someone out there with access to Atlantean technology trying to kill you. You're safe here, but if you went back to Nerima you may get a knife in the back for your trouble." Cologne paused."What I'm saying is that your life is more important than those in Nerima who are dying."  
  
Ranma was on his feet in an instant."You can't be serious! Your own great-granddaughter is probably fighting for her life right now! What if she gets killed?"  
  
"Shampoo can take care of herself," Cologne said calmly.  
  
Ranmastomped out of the room and into the one Margaret had told him was his.  
  
"That went well," Cynthia said after he was gone.  
  
"It couldn't be helped. Ranma is too young to see beyond his heart."  
  
Margaret shook her head in dismay. What was it with adults that made them think they were always right?  
****  
  
Ranma was twirling a rainbow of multicolored chi ribbons through the air when Margaret entered his room. She dropped to the floor as one of the ribbons passed through the space where her head had been."Sorry, Margaret. I wasn't paying attention."  
  
Margaret accepted the apology and stared in awe of the feat Ranma was currently performing."How are you doing that?"  
  
"The chi? It's just something that Cologne taught me." The ribbons fizzled out of existance. He sat up in the bed and asked,"Do you want to learn."  
  
"Sure," she answered, eager to change Ranma's attitude."Is it hard?"  
  
"At first it was. It gets easier the more you do it, though." Ranma motioned to a place in front of him. Once she had taken her place, he asked,"How many different temeratures of chi can you maintain at the same time?"  
****  
  
The room was a virtual kaleidoscope of light as their chi swirled through the air. Ranma's ribbons were sharper and better formed, but hers were just as numerous and she was quickly improving. The ribbons began to form a knot in the air above the bed. The more that joined the forming sphere the lighter and brighter it became. As the last ribbon was drawn into the sphere it became perfectly white and the air filled with the same hum Ranma had heard when Cologne used the ring to take them to Atlantis.  
  
"I think we just created some kind of new spell," Margaret said.  
  
"But all we did was make a big chi ball," Ranma replied nervously.  
  
"It's not just the chi. It must be how we tied it together. I can't say for sure since I've never made one before."  
  
"What does it do?"  
  
"I haven't the slightest clue. You?"  
  
"Nu uh. Maybe we should go get Cologne and your mom." Ranma was afraid to move too much. Kami-sama only knew what would happen if it triggered.  
  
"Sounds like a plan to me." Margaret eased herself off the bed. She was followed by a reluctant Ranma. Before they had taken two steps towards the door, however, the sphere began to pulse irregularly. Soon its edges began to blur and minute wisps of chi began to detach from it."Ranma, what's happening?"  
  
"I don't know." Neither of them moved for fear of aggravating its integrity. It was too late. The sphere's cohesion was rapidly decreasing and before long the air was full of threads of white chi. As the pulsing grew to a fever pitch and the threads were practically a fog, they both dived in opposite directions for cover.  
  
For both Ranma and Margaret the world seemed to go completely white. They could feel the chi throbbing against their skin and hear the hum as it grew deafening. Then, somehow, the whiteness fractured and fell away in shards.  
  
Ranma watched as the last remnants of white chi were absorbed into Margaret.  
  
Margaret watched the last bits of chi being drawn into Ranma.  
  
"Are you all right?" Ranma asked her. Before she answered he already knew that she was. He could feel all of her emotions and the sensations that she was experiencing. It was comforting.  
  
Even as she was nodding Margaret could feel Ranma's concern for her and the relief that flared in his mind when he knew she was unharmed.  
  
The door slid open and Cologne and Cynthia rushed in."We felt a disturbance. What happened?" Cynthia asked worriedly.  
  
Ranma never took his eyes from Margaret as he answered,"We were playing with chi ribbons and..."Ranma explained in as much detail as he could what had happened. When he was finished, he asked the astonished adults,"What was it and why can I feel her in my head?"  
  
A look passed between Cologne and Cynthia."You've both somehow bonded to each other. The process has been lost for thousands of years," Cologne answered.  
  
"You know what this meens?" Cynthia asked Cologe. She nodded."You two are pretty much married." Watching Ranma faint wasn't nearly as satifying as she thought it would be. Poor kid. He'd better be as good as Cologne claimed or Kenji was going to kill him.  
  
"Mom," croaked Margaret, her green eyes wide."Please tell me you're joking, please," she pleaded."Daddy'll kill him."  
  
"Don't worry," Cynthia said soothingly."Ranma can take care of himself."  
  
"I can't be married! I don't even know him! What will the girls at school say? What about his fiances? He says they're crazy. What if they try to kill me? Did you know that he's cursed. He changes into a girl. A girl!"  
  
Cynthia, using a shiatsu point, put the panicking girl to sleep. She collapsed in her mother's arms."Cologne, isn't there anything we can do?" she asked.  
  
"Not that I'm aware of. Take comfort in the knowledge that to bond in the first place people have to be soul mates."  
  
Cynthia gasped and looked from her sleeping daughter to the unconscious Ranma."They are 'soul' mates?" Her whole demeanor changed. She smiled broadly at everybody in the room then mischeviously carried her daughter over to Ranma's bed. By the time she had positioned the girl, Cologne had caught on and was holding Ranma. She placed him next to Margaret and pulled the covers over them.  
  
Together they snuck out of the room.  
****  
  
Ranma was the first to wake up. His shriek the woke Margaret up. Before Margaret's eyes could fully focus, Ranma was pacing the length and breadth of the room repeating to himself,"This isn't happening."  
  
"I'm afraid it is."  
  
Ranma turned to Margaret and said,"We really screwed up. If only I hadn't shown you how to do that stupid trick  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Born for Trouble 4

  
Author's Notes: I wanted C&C, and damned if I didn't get it! I was really suprised by how much people liked this fic. Taking the requests into consideration, I typed up another chapter to sate everyone's appetite. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 4:  
  
"We really screwed up," Ranma said glumly. He hadn't stopped pacing the room yet and that was at least the tenth time that he had reminded himself of the 'screw up'.  
  
Margaret couldn't quite hear Ranma's thoughts, but his emotions were another matter entirely. Ranma was scared, obviously, but he was also worried about her well-being, which was sweet, but most suprising was relief. It was only a ripple in the ocean compared to raging tidal wave of the other emotions, but it was there. Relief. He was, in some small part of his mind, relieved that he and Margaret had bonded. How come no one had told her about it? Well, in everyone else's defense, it wasn't all that common for peole to go around tangling their life energies like she and Ranma had done, but still...It was awfully inconvenient.  
  
"Ranma, snap out of it!" Margaret eventually demanded."You're giving me a headache!"  
  
Ranma halted and, with a sigh, allowed himself to fall back onto the bed, landing right beside Margaret. He jumped back up before the girl had a chance to respond and began apologizing,"Sorry, I'm really sorry. I'm not a hentai. I promise, it's just that I'm suprised and..."  
  
Margaret heaved a sigh of her own and tried her best to tune Ranma out. His rambling apology eventually degraded into another session of 'pace and mutter'. Shaking her head in dismay, Margaret collapsed further into her feather stuffed matress. How could things have gone so impossibly awry that she was now, sorta, married to Ranma Saotome? It just didn't make sense. She'd known him for less that the time it took her to fix her most mornings, so how was she supposed to know if she could spend the rest of her life with him. Sure he was well on his way to becoming famous, his exploits in the outside world were nothing short of legendary, and Nabiki, his fiance's sister already had planted the seed that would likely lead to idolhood among young girls the world over, but(there were lots of 'buts') he was also the love interest of a squad of trained psycho bitches. Why couldn't she have gotten stuck with a nice, boring guy, is she had to get stuck with anyone at all?  
  
There was no use crying over spilt milk."Ranma, if you don't stop that I may accidentally electrocute you. We wouldn't want that to happen would we?"  
  
Apparently Ranma either sensed her irritation or just got bored with pacing, because his eyes brightened, burning away the glaze that had shrouded them. He found a chair in the corner and sat down.  
****  
  
His mom would probably approve, on basis of manliness alone. Akane probably wouldn't even make much of fuss about the whole deal. There's wasn't one of those happy relationships. It was the father's and the other girls that would be trouble. Maybe Cologne could handle Shampoo. Okay, best case scenario he would only have to deal with Ukyou and Kodachi. Of those two, Kodachi would probably be the most difficult to fend off, especially with all her resources. Hell, she could just hire some goon with a gun to take out Margaret. Ukyou would almost certainly go for a straight physical attack, which she would undoubtedly lose. Margaret was a mage, whether warrior or scholar, and they could all bring the big guns to bare when necessary.  
  
"So what are we going to do?" Ranma finally asked when he noticed Margaret looking at him intently.   
  
Margaret shrugged,"This isn't really something that they teach in school, you know? I can tell you this though, daddy probably will try to kill you. He is 'really' protective."  
  
Ranma nodded."I mean...about the other stuff."  
  
"The bond?" Ranma nodded."I guess we should try to find out all that we can about it. Make sure that there's no harmful side effects of it, that sort of thing."  
  
"It's a start," Ranma said while standing up."Let's go find Cologne and your mom and see what they can tell us about it." He waited for Margaret to join him by the door before stepping into the hallway. From there it was a short trek to the living room.  
  
They didn't have far to look, since Cologne and Cynthia were sitting on the sofa having an animated discussion on some topic that Ranma couldn't discern since they were speaking in another language that sounded more like whistling than talking. Not to far to the left, sat a man who appeared to be in his late thirties. His hair was blond, and he had green eyes, traits picked up from the european side of his parentage, the only obvious explanation for his semi-oriental appearance. And he was scowling, scowling very intensely at Ranma.  
  
Margaret 'eeped' and jumped behind Ranma. Oh how could this day get any better? Cologne and Cynthia's conversation cut off as Kenji, Ranma remembered that to be Margaret's father's name, stood abruptly and walked calmly over to the pair of teenagers in a smooth measured pace. Kenji stopped a couple of feet in front of Ranma and looked him up and down, surveying him like a piece of meet. Suddenly, his grim face disappeared to be split by a broad grin. He reached out and grabbed Ranma's hand, squeezing it firmly, very firmly, and shaking it familiarly.  
  
It didn't stop there. No, not at all. Kenji drew Ranma closer and threw an arm around his shoulders, leading Ranma towards the door."Welcome to the family, son," he said to Ranma before walking through the door.  
****  
  
In the hallway, Ranma felt Kenji's friendly demeanor fall away. He returned to scowling, but only a little."Okay, let's get one thing straight. Margaret is very special to me, and if you ever hurt her I'll kill you. Simple as that. And I know of a dozen others who would help, so don't get your hopes up thinking that you might win if it ever comes down to a confrontation."  
  
Gulp."Um, hehehe...I really wouldn't do anything to hurt Margaret, I'm not like that. I didn't mean for this to happen, I really didn't," Ranma almost pleaded.  
  
"Are you rejecting my daughter?" Kenji growled."That may qualify as hurting her."  
  
Ranma waved his hands around frantically."No, no, no, not that. I just don't think you understand the whole situation, that's all."  
  
"Maybe you should help me understand?"  
  
"To begin with I have three other fiances, and-" Ranma was cut off by Kenji.  
  
"Maybe you'd better elaborate on that one a bit," Kenji snapped.  
  
So Ranma elaborated. By the time he finished, Kenji had actually laughed once and smiled a handful of times. Kenji shrugged the matter away."They don't matter anymore. You have Margaret."  
  
"But my honor demands-" Once again he was cut off.  
  
"Your honor demands nothing. Prior arrangements, such as these arranged marriages that you manage to collect, all become void when someone becomes a citizen of Atlantis. It also applies to gambling debts, blood feuds, and a few other things."  
  
Ranma stared at the slightly taller man in astonishment, his mouth gaping open comically."Serious?"  
  
"As a heartattack."  
  
Ranma actually began bouncing off the walls, leaving Kenji to catch up behind him.  
****  
  
"Mom, something's wrong with Daddy!" Margaret exclaimed. All she was getting from Ranma was a general sense of shock.   
  
Cynthia looked no less shocked than her daughter. She turned to Cologne."Were you expecting that?"   
  
Cologne shook her head and said,"I thought he was going to hit him at least a few times."  
  
Cynthia threw her arms in the air and exasperatedly exclaimed,"Men! They make no sense at all!"  
  
"What if he fell and hit his head? Mom, we have to get Daddy to a doctor."  
  
Cologne smiled reassuringly at Margaret."I wouldn't be to worried. I believe that we simply underestimated your father. They're probably doing a little bonding of there, the male variety."  
  
Margaret decided to push the matter aside. She could always make her father go get a check-up, so she decided she shouldn't worry too much."Ranma and I were coming out to ask what you knew about the bond," remembered Margaret.  
  
"Not very much, I'm afraid," answered Cologne."Off all the ancient texts I've read, only one mentioned any part of the procedure and it only vaguely resembles what you and Ranma did, so there haven't been any recent cases from which information could be gained. What we do know is that the bond was once used to more closely bind soul-mates during marriage ceremonies. It only works with soul-mates, by the way. The only effect we know of is a general sharing of emotion between the pair."  
  
Margaret was busy turning the word soul-mate over in her mind, and blushing at the implications, when she felt a wild surge of elation from Ranma. At least her father wasn't killing him."Soul-mates?"  
  
Her mother agreed,"Isn't it great?! You found the man meant for you and you didn't even have to try!" enthused Cynthia.  
  
Margaret blushed crimson right to the roots of her hair.  
****  
  
Makoto, as Sailor Jupiter, was staring down at the middle-aged field commander of the JDF forces sent in to restore order to Nerima, and seriously considering whether or not she could get away with turning him into a bug-zapper. The man was infuriating! He actually had the nerve to tell her she should be at home playing with dolls instead interfering with responsible men. Instead, she simply infused her right hand with a glowing sphere of compressed lightning.  
  
"Listen here baldy, if it weren't for me and my friends, this whole ward would be up in flames by now, so you had better lay off and quit trying to tell me what to do before you have an accident of the electrical variety!"  
  
The man, now white-faced, nodded shakily and slowly leaned back in his chair as Jupiter held her fist closer and closer to him. Then, extended too far, his considerable weight pulled him backward, tipping him over onto the canvas tent floor.  
  
Jupiter exited the tent, laughing uproarously, and made her way through stacks of equipment and parked vehicles, idle soldiers and refugees, to the tent set up for her fellow senshi and the amazingly gifted Nerimian martial artists.  
  
"This is really incredible," Mercury was saying as Jupiter entered the tent. Mars and Mercury were sitting at a fold-out table, along with Shampoo, Ukyou, Konatsu, Akane, Ryoga, and Mousse. She still couldn't see how those last three could function in society, but it appeared that without Ranma around they were almost nice people.  
  
"What is?" Jupiter asked, taking the only empty seat.  
  
Mercury pointed to her left gauntlet and pressed a small silver button near her elbow. The top of it slid away to reveal her computer. Mercury then reached up to her topaz circlet/visor and pulled a long wire from it which she jacked into a receptacle in the computer. Immediately the air above the table was filled with a holographic map of Nerima, comlete with troop movements, scurrying looters, and burning buildings.  
  
"Cool," was all Jupiter said.  
  
A short command later, and the map became slightly reddish in tint, but with the change came visible waves of something rippling along the city's surface."That is what's so incredible. It's some kind of chaotic energy matrix. I suspect that, using Cologne's theory of Ranma's life force interferring eith everyone elses, this has always been an unseen natural occurence in this area, but when Ranma came to live here he inadvertently began to fuel it. Now with him gone, the matrix is in a state of flux and is beginning to return to it's normal non-agitated state. Unfortunately the waves of chaos that the matrix create will continue to increase in strength for several more days before they begin to weaken."  
  
"So we know that this really is all Ranma's fault, unintentional as it is, and we know that everything's going to get worse before it gets better, but what happens when Ranma comes back? Won't it just start all over when he leaves again?" asked Mars.  
  
Mercury released the hologram and shrugged,"Barring further analysis, the chaos matrix is a permanent phenomena, and will return to an active state in Ranma's prescence, so the only solution to prevent a reoccurence is for Ranma to not return to Nerima. Actually, if he never returned to Tokyo, Nerima would be much safer."  
  
Ukyou and Shampoo gasped, each for different reasons, but Ryoga growled,"It's always that bastard's fault! I swear that I'll end his life when he returns to Nerima. How dare he put Akane in danger!"  
  
"Easy big fella," Mars said, patting him on the back. The last thing they needed was for Ryoga to go berserk.  
  
"Oooo, when he gets back I am going to give him a piece of my mind," Akane said, popping her knuckles at the same time.  
  
Jupiter ignored the comment and tried to change the subject."I 'convinced' the guy in charge to leave us alone, so we're still on general trouble shooting and rescue duties."  
  
"How did you manage that," Ukyou asked. She was alternating between glaring at Ryoga and Akane, unable to decide which to focus the entirety of her anger upon.  
  
"Oh, I just told him that the next time he tried to boss around that I may accidentally light him up like a christmas tree, or something along those lines."  
  
Shampoo giggled."Bald fat man look like he should be in circus."  
  
Shouts from outside drew everyone's attention. They all piled through the opening in the tent to see a large silver ring floating a dozen feet above the ground in the center of the park. It had been cleared of trees in preparation to erect a temporary triage, but now...  
  
The ring glowed for a couple seconds then deposited a half dozen armed and armored men and women, then it disappeared. The sounds of automatic weapons being readied rang through out the park and soldiers formed a large ring around the small group.  
  
"Wait," Shampoo called,"Great-grandmother have ring like that in her room, say it's magic. They must be sent by Great-grandmother!" She leapt over the soldiers in order to further confuse or at least slow them from firing.  
  
The newcomers' ranged in nationality from Japanese to Eskimo. One of them, a man with a katana strapped across his back, stepped forward and in a loud voice, announced,"We're here to help!"  
  
"Let them through," Mars ordered the soldiers irritably.  
  
The man nodded to her and with a gesture had his fellows follow him towards the gap formed in the ranks by Mars.  
  
"Thank you," he said to her when they had crossed the distance.  
  
"Don't think me, we need all the help we can get."  
  
Before some officer or another could get their hooks into the newcomers, Jupiter said,"Follow us, we can talk in the tent."  
****  
  
After more chairs and another table were brought in, the entire group managed to seat itself, in the now crowded tent.  
  
"What was that thing that brought you here?" Mercury asked almost immediately, curiosity glinting in her aquamarine eyes.  
  
"We just call them rings," a tall blond woman with a dagger sheathed to each forearm. The only armor she wore was a pair of gauntlets, matching grieves, and a breastplate that hinted at a large amount of...healthiness.  
  
Mercury could ask questions about the rings things later, they needed to know who these people were and who had sent them."Like Mars said, we could use all the help we can get, but we also need to know who you are and why you're helping us. Please understand that I'm just being cautious," Jupiter said.  
  
"Ah, someone with her head on straight, I apprecitae that in a fellow warrior. My name is Kenji and we came here at the request of my son-in-law."  
  
"Who would that be?" Ukyou asked curiously. Whoever it was obviously had connections.  
  
Kenji smiled. It wasn't quite evil, but it was close."I believe you all know him, his name's Ranma."  
  
The top of the tent was suddenly melted away by three very large battle auras, courtesy of Ukyou, Shampoo, and Akane.  
****  
  
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief as he reentered Margaret and her parents' quarters. Kenji had actually agreed to go down to Nerima and help keep the place intact. It didn't hurt that he hadn't tried to kill him either. The threats didn't really count for much, he got threatened all the time. He could feel Margaret still, but it was the sensation's were muted somehow. Maybe she was asleep.  
  
"How did your little talk go?" Cologne asked mildly. She was eating from a plate of sliced carrots and celery.  
  
"Oh, not to bad. Kenji'll kill me if I hurt Margaret though. Not that I intended to in the first place. Speaking of Margaret, where is she?"  
  
Cologne smiled...sorta, the carrot she was taking a bite out of could have just distorted one of those smirks people get when they think somethings, he couldn't tell."She has school tomorrow and Cynthia has to go to work, so they went home. I stayed here so I could show you to my quarters."  
  
That explained the dampened sensation. Good, now he would have some more time to contemplate how much further down the drain his life could manage to sink."So what did the High Council say about the weapons and stuff?" Ranma asked as they walked down the hall.  
  
"They are taking the threat of a rogue Attendant very seriously. Right now they've got the best psychics going over the weapons you took from Kuno, Mousse, and Ryoga, but psychometry is an inexact talent and it could take a while to get any answers. Until then, you are still confined to Atlantis."  
  
"That's okay, I guess."  
  
Cologne seems suprised by Ranma's dismissal of his confinement, so she asked,"You don't mind being stuck down here while Nerima is in turmoil?"  
  
"Nah, not to bad. I asked Kenji to go help them out. He got some of his friends together and they used one of those ring things to go to where the army is camped."  
  
Cologne's eyes got really, really big."You are joking, right Ranma?" she asked him seriously.  
  
"Why would I joke about that?" Ranma was starting to think that he may have made a mistake by asking for Kenji's help. The man had told him that they could make it where no one would recognize them, something he called a glamor, so Cologne didn't need to worry about anyone finding out about Atlantis. If that wasn't the problem, then what was it?  
  
"Ranma, Kenji is what you would call a pyromaniac. He likes to set fires just for fun. We'll be lucky to find anything left in Nerima besides a lot of ashes."  
  
Oops. Oh well, there was no way to stop him, since he'd already left."I guess we should just hope that he can control himself, heh?"  
  
Cologne shook her head doubtfully."And I was just starting to like my nice little restaurant."  
****  
  
"What?!?" came a roar that made Jupiter check to see if her ears were bleeding.  
  
Another of the men who had come with Kenji, a short black man with a shaved head and a huge mustache, slapped their leader in the man of the head."Man, you weren't supposed to tell them that Ranma and Margaret had tied the knot! Cynthia is gonna skin ya alive, Man."   
  
The tall blond woman shook her head and said,"Poor guy."  
  
Anything else that was said for the next minute was drowned out by the promises of bodily harm that were going to be done to Ranma by fiance's and enemies alike. The soldiers had wisely stayed away, not wanting to get involved in an argument with glowing people. It was when the threats started to shift towards Margaret that Kenji held up his hands and shouted,"That's enough!" The peal of thunder that his hands emitted as he clapped them also served to quite the tent's occupants.  
  
"You all can try to kill Ranma later, but you'll have to leave my daughter out of it or I would have to take steps to neutralize you as threats, but for now, we have business to attend to."  
****  
  
  
  
dark_phoneix@hotmail.com  



	5. Born for Trouble 5

  
  
Born for Trouble Chapter 5:  
  
Ranma and Cologne were sitting in another of the giant rooms that should be smaller than they were. This one was furnished with modern exercise equipment as well as what appeared to be a large shooting range on one end.  
  
"What did we come here for?" Ranma asked.  
  
Cologne answered,"There are still many things that you need to learn, but my quarters are too small and have too much stuff I care about in them to allow you to play with magic around them."  
  
Ranma could understand that. HE did sometimes lose control of the spells she taught when he first tried them out. Of course he hadn't known that they were spell at the time, but still..."Where's everyone at?"  
  
"We're still not sure who wants you dead so badly. Plus you seem to have amassed something of a fanclub among the young women currently staying here," finished Cologne with a grin.  
  
Figured."Well, let's get started then."  
  
"I've taught you every defensive and offensive spell that I know, as well as simple chi manipulations, but there were spells that I couldn't pass off as more chi techniques. The one that operates the rings for example." Ranma didn't remind Cologne that he could just use the crystal bands to teleport.  
  
As the day passed, Ranma eagerly absorbed all the information that Cologne passed on to him like a sponge. When she finally called a halt to the day's study, Ranma was well versed enough to travel by ring, separate oxygen from water to extend periods of submersion, and pass through most solid matter.  
****  
  
Nervously, Ranma walked through the ornate, gold framed door. Instead of the expected cavernous room full of people, it led Ranma into a small office. The walls were lined with shelf upon shelf of books. Near the back of the room was a large intricately carved wooden desk. The same white haired man Ranma had first seen when he had been introduced to the other mages by Cologne sat behind it.  
  
"Ranma, come in, come in," he said pleasantly."Have a seat." He pointed to a chair in front of his desk that had not previously been there.  
  
Ranma took sat down and asked,"You wanted to see me?" Was this guy in charge? How was he supposed to treat him?  
  
"Please, call me Lerris. As the Head of Council, it's my duty to formally recognize all new Mages."  
  
"I thought that I had already been accepted, Lerris." If the guy wanted to be informal, Ranma wasn't going to stop him.  
  
"I guess I didn't word that right, sorry." Lerris grinned sheepishly. "What I should have said is that I'm the man who assigns you a rank and quarters."  
  
Wow, he was getting his own place!  
  
"Everyone is very impressed with you young man. No one has shown a potential as high as yours since I became a Mage over four centuries ago." He sighed."I'm afraid that I never achieved that potential. The life of a scholar doesn't lend itself to the kind of exertion that is needed to build chi force. Anyway, I degress." Lerris reached into a drawer in his desk and retrieved a small black box. He opened it and passed it to Ranma.  
  
Inside, Ranma saw, was an small egg shaped crystal amulet with a thick gold chain attached to it. Within the transparent amulet a miniature battle of power raged. A miniscule fire swirled around an equally small bolt of lightning that appeared to be little more than a spark, and a wisp of darkness darted around the crystal interior in a vain attempt to escape both the fire and the lightning."What is it?" Ranma gasped.  
  
"That signifies your place as the strongest Mage within the Order. Each Order of magic users and psychics has one. I'm passing mine on to you. That's why you are getting quarters at such a young age. Well that and the fact that Madelinn, Margaret's grandmother, insisted that her granddaughter have her own home if she was going to be married." Lerris winked at Ranma.  
  
Ranma groaned."Does everybody know about that?" Ranma asked pitifully.  
  
Lerris grinned at him."Hehe, I'm quite sure that the entire population knew of it within an hour of the event."  
  
"Why is everyone taking this bonding thing so seriously? All it does is let me get a fuzzy idea of Margaret's emotions when we're close together. Right now with her back in Japan I can barely feel anything at all."  
  
Lerris for once looked mildly serious."Ranma, every documented, though I can't figure out why they were documented in the first place, case of soul-mates meeting has led to both parties falling in love. Every single time. Three such times both the man and the woman were happily married to other people, but once they had met their soul-mate...let's just say that the pull one soul-mate feels for another is irresistable. The bond is just an extension of the more primitive connection oyu already share."  
  
Ranma wondered how Lerris knew so much more about the subject than Cologne did, but the man had said he was over four hundred years old, plenty of time to pick up lots of stray information. It also dawned on him just what Lerris was saying. Him and Margaret were literally meant to be together. But it was still strange. Very, very strange.  
  
Seeing that Ranma had grasped his meaning, Lerris continued,"Cologne asked me, as a favor, to find you a job that you could still carry out around a school schedule. Would teaching a martial arts class be all right? Many of our Guardians and Warriors are very poor fighters physically, so your services would be greatly appreciated. The job pays well too."  
  
Ranma nodded absentmindely, still thinking about the revelation about himself and Margaret.  
  
"Would you like me to show you to your quarters?" Lerris asked. His grin had returned, helped along by the look on Ranma's face. He remembered having that look himself a few hundred years earlier. It was right before he had gotten married.  
  
"Yeah," Ranma answered.  
****  
  
Ranma should have expected it. It was probably Cologne and Cynthia's idea. There was no way that his quarter's being three down from Margaret's parents' was a coincidence. Not with the number of available room in a place as big as Atlantis. Oh well, at least it was his.  
  
"Place your hand on this panel," Lerris pointed out a small panel identical to the one on the outside of the door.   
  
When he followed the instructions another panel revealed hitself a foot to the left of the original.  
  
"If you want to give someone access to your quarters you must place your hand on the panel while they place their's on that panel."  
  
Ranma nodded in understanding. He turned to survey his place. It appeared to be the same size as Margaret's, but with much plainer furniture. A couple of sofas, a few chairs, and a coffee table made up the entirety of the furnishings. The kitchen was full of new appliances, and the three bedrooms each had a queen sized bed, a large closet and a small bedside table. All together it was plain, and empty, but it was a much nicer place than Ranma would have been able to afford otherwise. With a job and no need to buy his own food thanks to the giant, fully stocked pantry, he knew that it wouldn't be hard to get a few luxury items such as a TV.  
  
Lerris left Ranma in his quarters to finish his administrative duties for the day.  
****  
  
The next day passed much as the last had for Ranma. Cologne spent half the day teaching him miscellanious spells that wouldn't really help in a fight, but were convenient to know. He was growing tired of not seeing anyone else though. It was like the halls were being cleared before he could walk down them. Ranma decided to find Cologne and ask her about it when he saw her again.  
****  
  
Cologne and the other Council members were currently listening to a report of the situation in Tokyo by Kenji. The Warrior Mage was covered in soot and his armor had several fresh scratches and dents,  
  
"Some of those kids down in Nerima have potential to be Mages if they can learn basic enough control to actually begin training in magic. The Sailor Senshi are all exceptionally powerful Channellers. They somehow apply their magic to enhance their speed, strength, and endurance, something Channellers aren't supposed to be able to do."  
  
"What of the actual conflict?" asked one of the councilors.  
  
Kenji said,"I've never heard of general civil order breaking down as fast as it is in Tokyo. The fighting spilt over into Juuban the night before last and now nearly every ward is in turmoil. We have managed to set up safe zones in some of the city's larger parks. With my Mages, the Senshi, and the Hibiki kid stationed in strategic places we are keeping the safe zones safe while letting the JDF deal with the rioting. They are better equipped to subdue large numbers of people than we are."  
  
"Would you recommend more Mages be sent in? Or perhaps some members of the other Orders?" Cologne asked. She personally wouldn't do it, but Kenji had assumed command and he was doing a good job, so it was his decision.  
  
He shook his head no."It was hard enough convincing the officers that we were just gifted concerned citizens, and my son-in-law's little harem didn't react all that well when they found out that I was his father-in-law, they could become hostile towards more of us. Besides, too much of a display of force and someone higher up in the government is going to get ideas."  
  
He had told the fiances! Cologne couldn't believe it. Ranma wasn't going to be happy. Margaret probably wouldn't either for that matter. But the fiances. Akane most of all, must have pretty much exploded. It was a wonder that Kenji had survived.  
****  
  
Just as the soldiers were about to be trampled underfoot of the latest wave of rioters, Ukyou leapt from the roof of a moderate size office building and landed in the midst of the mob. The flat of her spatula and murderous rage served much better than the tear gas and rubber bullets that the soldiers had been using, and within a minute over seventy-five men and women had been placed in one state of unconsciousness or another. The soldiers, all twelve of them, looked at her like she were the angel of death. They ran away without so much as a thank you.  
  
Right then Ukyou felt like the angel of death. Well maybe just the angel of Ranma's death. For days, that had been all she could think about. Ranma had run off and gotten married to some girl that no one had ever heard of. Margaret was her name. What kind of name was Margaret? It wasn't even Japanese. Ukyou had seen Kenji in action, tossing around balls of Napalm and lightning bolts, so taking her revenge out on the girl was out of the question, at least as long as her father was on the same continent.  
****  
  
"Shi Shi Hokodan!!!" cried Ryoga. The beam of chi that sprouted from between his cupped hands was enormous, and as it angled down towards the ground, dozens of windows in the surrounding buildings shattered from the force of its passing. The beam struck the asphault in front of the stolen Jeep full of crazed Tokyo citizens, causing an explosion that threw the vehicle and its occupants into the air only to land on another stolen jeep.   
  
Ryoga kept pouring heavy chi into the beam and swept it through the small convoy of five jeeps and two light urban assault vehicles that had been commandeered after the soldiers using them had been over ran. When there was finally no sign of movement, Ryoga cut the flow of energy off and slumped back into a folding chair he had found in the stairwell. He knew that if he moved any farther then he would become lost.  
  
Everything had, for at least a couple of seconds, seemed perfect. That really powerful guy claimed that Ranma had married his daughter, leaving Akane to him. When Ryoga had heard that he thought that he'd never again be able to do a depression fueled chi blast. Sadly, nothing 'ever' worked out for Ryoga. Instead of being deliriously happy like she should have been, Akane had been pissed. Pissed with a capital PISSED. She sure had managed to get a nice sized battle aura going for a while, but eventually her anger had died off.  
  
After that, Akane had found an empty supply tent and cried for hours. Ryoga knew because he had succeeded in following her. But why had Akane cared at all? He had seen her relationship with Ranma declining for months. Everytime he showed up at the Tenod dojo, whether in crused or human form, they seemed a bit angrier at each other, a little less patient. Hell, Akane should have been celebrating a permanent solution to her obligation to marry the bastard. But she wasn't, and Ryoga also knew why. She still, somehow, loved the bastard. His little porcine ears had heard her say it herself as she cried.  
  
That thought alone had given Ryoga the almost endless depression needed to become the high powered energy cannon/sniper that he was currently serving as. Akane loved Ranma even after his betrayal. He had no hope of winning Akane's affection as long as the bastard lived.  
  
The depression building again, Ryoga stood and picked out an over turned car as a target.   
****  
  
"Kiiyaa!" Shampoo shouted as a pink and purple ball of energy erupted from her right hand and blew the arm off a pipe-wielding man who had been in the process of beating an elderly woman to death. In her left hand she held her favorite sword, just encase someone got within close reach. She had felt the need to relieve some stress, so this little excursion into the urban jungle had turned into a sort of therapy session.  
  
Her increasing chi manipulation abilities, fueled mainly by anger were an extremely good way of funnelling off the useless emotion. She found that as long as she kept them small enough not to drain her energy, she could fight better with the clouding influence her anger normally exerted gone.  
  
Far off in the distance she caught sight of the yellowish green light given off by Ryoga's monstrous chi blasts. Now that she herself could project her energies, Shampoo appreciated just how powerful people like Ryoga, her great-grandmother, and her airen...no ex-airen were.  
  
That was the source of her anger. If Ranma had married then the marriage laws no longer applied and she had no claim on the man she loved. How could he go behind her back like that? Just for the hell of it, Shampoo used another surge of anger to destroy the TV a man had been struggling to carry across the street. What was worse was the disappearance of her great-grandmother. It could only mean two things. She had cought wind of Ranma's plan to marry another, unlikely since she would have left a note or message of some kind, or she had somehow helped Ranma. But why would she do that? Didn't she care about her own great-granddaughter's feelings?  
****  
  
At almost the same time that Jupiter saw the flash of Ryoga's devastating energy beam from across the city, she unleashed a devastating attack of her own. The bolt of lightning that she threw towards another horde of rioters split into hundreds of smaller bolts forming a kid of web that fell over the people, delivering enough high voltage to incapacitate then but not enough amperage to kill.  
  
"How are things in you area?" Jupiter asked Mars over her communicator.  
  
"Everything is under control. Mercury had a little trouble earlier because she didn't want to hurt anyone, but she's gotten over that. Seems that someone attacked her mother."  
  
"Oh no! Is she all right?" Ms. Mizuno was so nice, she hoped for Ami's sake that she wasn't hurt.  
  
"A few bruises, but she is a doctor and she said that she was all right."  
  
Jupiter breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Unfortunately, her mom also figured out her real identity," Mars said in a whisper.  
  
Oh shit!"Oh shit! How?"  
  
"Mercury called her mom as she was carrying her to her zone. The magic wasn't strong enough to hide her idenity from someone so close as her mother. That's what Mercury thinks anyway."  
  
"What is she going to do?" What if she felt it was her responsibility to reveal their idenities?  
  
"Nothing. She thinks that her daughter being a famous hero is 'neat'. Mercury sais that she wants our autographs."  
  
Jupiter was still chuckling when they broke contact.  
****  
  
"Hey Cologne, why don't I ever see anyone else in this place? If the whole bunch of us was here, I should have run into at least a few other Mages," Ranma said as he followed Cologne into her quarters.  
  
The gold-veined walls were hung with delicate ink sketches and numerous Jade figurines sat on shelves around the room.  
  
"Ranma, just because we're Mages doesn't mean that we don't have to maintain a life outside. Just like Margaret and Cynthia having to return for school and work, the other also had to leave. With the trouble in Tokyo I suspect that Margaret and Cynthia, along with a few others may be returning. At least you'll get a chance to meet some people from the other Orders."  
  
Ranma felt a little stupid. He hadn't even thought of that rather simle answer. Then he remembered the other reason he had come looking for the Amazon."Thanks for talking to Lerris and getting me that job as a teacher."  
  
Cologne waved the matter off and in grave tones said,"Ranma, we got a report from Kenji a short while ago. All of Tokyo is now caught up in the chaos. Your parents are safe, as are the Tendos, so there is no need to worry about them."  
  
It was all his fault that Tokyo had gone to war with itself. If he had just not told Cologne about those weird ass weapons then none of it would have happened and Margaret wouldn't be stuck with him like she was.  
  
Cologne saw Ranma's mood shifting towards depression and made an attempt to cheer him up some before telling him the really bad news."Ranma, this really isn't your fault. A very smart young woman, one of the Sailor Senshi I believe, has discovered that your prescense merely aggrivated a pre-existing condition in Tokyo. It would have eventually happened anyway, almost as soon as you left, but the longer you stayed the worse it would have been when you did leave. It's better to get the whole mess over with."  
  
Ranma was indeed heartened by Cologne's news. By looking at it in her perspective, Ranma could see how his leaving like he had, had lessesed the suffering of the people of Tokyo. At least that's what it sounded like.  
  
Now for the bad news."Ranma, Kenji also brought us another piece of information." Ranma looked at her expectantly."He thought it would be funny to see how your other fiances would react to discovering your involvement with his daughter, so he told them that he was your father-in-law. They didn't take it well." Cologne had expected Ranma to do something, anything, but...  
  
Ranma just stood, stiff as a board, staring at her with his mouth agape in horror.  
  
Author's Notes: Damn, I just keep churnin these things out. I hope you enjoy it. Sens C&C to dark_phoneix@hotmail.com  



	6. Born for Trouble 6

Born for Trouble Chapter 6:  
  
"Ranma?" Cologne asked while waving her hand inches from his face. Growing tired of the boy's lack of response, Cologne reared back and slapped Ranma hard across the face.  
  
Slow at first, but with gaining speed, Ranma's body untensed, his muscles shifting under the skin almost like fluid. His dialated pupils were the last to return to normal, following behind his mouth that had snapped itself shut.  
  
"Ranma, are you all right?" Cologne hadn't thought it possible for Ranma to react to 'anything' in the manner that he had just displayed. Just to make sure that he hadn't had an aneurism, she gently probed his brain with wispy fingers of gauzy chi. Nothing was wrong, but the technique only worked on physical ailments.  
  
"Is he insane?" Ranma whispered quietly."The other girls have probably figured out fifty new ways to kill Margaret that no one ever even imagined. And me? They just skin me alive. No big deal, been expecting it for quite some time."  
  
"Maybe you should lie down, take a nap?" suggested Cologne. Ranma was acting weird, weird even by his standards. He sounded almost hopeless, maybe closer wallowing in despair. Oh, that was a nice thought; Ranma, a young man with way to much chi than he knew what to do with, releasing the mother of all shi shi hokadans in an underwater city.  
  
Ranma shrugged and said,"Don't worry about it Cologne, I'm not going crazy and I don't really need to take a nap, I slept pretty well last night. What I am going to do is go back to Tokyo and clear this whole mess up."  
  
Cologne was no longer worried for Ranma, she was frightened for the general populace of Tokyo. She couldn't let Ranma put his own life in danger by exposing himself out in the open, and to his fiances and enemies, but how could she stop him? He was still inexperienced with subtle magic and she had a few hundred years of overall combat training so there was a slim chance that she could take him in a fight, but once again the fact that they were in an underwater city flashed through her mind. Her quarters defiantely weren't reinforced like the workout rooms, who knew what could happen?  
  
"Maybe I'll get a chance to kick Kenji's ass. Margaret'll probably be pissed, but if what Lerris said is true, she'll probably forgive me."  
  
"Ranma, you can't go back right now. We still don't know who here is trying to kill you or why, and we know that your prescense in Tokyo will only exacerbate the problem the next time you leave." Maybe she could get a sneak attack in while he had his back turned to leave. The best solution would be to simply reroute him through the ring system when he tried to leave. A few days in Hawaii might do him some good.  
  
"Look Cologne, I know that you're thinking about all the bad stuff that I'm going to cause, but I have to do something. And I'm not scared of the Attendant that wants to kill me. There are at least two dozen other people that want to kill me basides him or her, and they've never managed to get the job done, so why should this one succeed?" Ranma had come to a decision. Margaret really was in danger from his fiances, Mage or not, and Ryoga would probably try to waste her just for hurting Akane's feelings, and strangely enough, the thought of losing Margaret made his heart hurt and nausea threatened to knock him over. Lerris was really on the money with his predictions.  
  
"The army can just evacuate Tokyo before I leave again. That way no one will go crazy or get hurt when I come to stay here."  
  
"Ranma-"  
  
Ranma cut her off."And maybe we can figure out who's trying to kill me while I'm in Tokyo. You know, they may come out in the open or something obvious."  
  
Hawaii it was. He would thank her one day. Now all that she had to do was convince him that she wouldn't stop him."Let's stop by the armory then. At least we can get you a little more protection."  
  
"I already got the crystal bands. Not that a library of stupid books is gonna do me much good, but it was my choice." Ranma still hadn't told Cologne about the ability to teleport. It was sorta funny. Teleportation was a lost art according to Margaret, but a pair of wrist cuffs designed for an old librarian too old to take care of the Royal Library properly had given him a major advantage over practically everybody.  
  
"Ranma, that was your choice as a focus. There are other enchanted weapons that you could use, but I was thinking more along the lines some light weight armor for you to wear. Not enough to slow you down, but maybe some protection for your vital areas."  
  
"I don't know, armor isn't really my style." It would be good to have encase someone somehow managed to get a gun in Japan. He was confident that he could dodge a bullets or shield himself from them, but if he was fighting and an unseen gunman shot him in the back while his concentration was focused elsewhere..."On second thought, maybe I should get a little something."  
  
Cologne smiled and nodded. Just keep him comfortable. She would get one of the pyschics remaining in Atlantis to take a break from investigating Ranma's attempted murder and have him send the account number of one of her bank accounts. Ranma did deserve a vacation. Hmm, maybe, just maybe, Cynthia could be convinced to send Margaret too.  
  
It took them a quarter of an hour to get to the armory. Colgone led Ranma in through a door that he had walked past at least a dozen times wihtout ever seeing.  
  
Cologne saw his puzzled look and said,"It's a kind of pyschic block we keep up to stop small children from wandering in and hurting themselves."  
  
Ranma filed that little tidbit of information away for later. Psychics could hide in a manner that he couldn't detect. The armory suprised Ranma. It was not the one he had first visited."How many armories are there?"  
  
"A few dozen," Cologne answered."The one you and Margaret first visited is used to store non-bonded focus objects and unknown magical artifacts. This one holds mainly armor and some high powered kinetic force-based weapons similar to those used by your newest enemy, but of a magical nature."  
  
The walls were lined with every type of armor Ranma had ever seen and many he hadn't. There were suits of full plate armor like that worn by ancient knights, as well as full samurai gear. Ranma was looking for something a little more understated, so his eye barely stopped over them. The farther into the corridor-like room that Cologne led him the closer they got to what Ranma was looking for. Now there were wooden dummies with partial armor plate/mail combinations. He didn't want shoulder pads or hip guards, ruling out the latest batch. By the time they reached the far end of the room the armor no longer hung on dummies. They were simply laid out on small racks.  
  
"Ranma, we can go to another of the armories, but the selection will be similar to this one," Cologne said exasperatedly. By the time Ranma actually made his mind up Tokyo would be back to normal.  
  
Ranma finally spotted something he could work with. It was simply designed, but very impressive looking black metal inlaid with gold. There were a pair of arm bracers, grieves to protect his shins, and an intricately linked set of small metal plates that formed a shirt that looked like the scales of a reptile, a really big black and gold reptile. There was also a crown thing, but he just left that on the rack.   
  
"Very nice. I'm glad that you found something you liked." Took him long enough.  
  
"It is what I was looking for, but doesn't it seem a little thin to you?" Ranma asked while he strapped the grieves on over his clothes. He was pleased to see that the inside of the armor was padded leather.  
  
"This isn't normal, everyday combat armor Ranma. Everything in this room is enchanted to withstand practically any form of mundane assault. They are more vulnerable to magic, but there is nothing immune to magic."  
  
Ranma's cuffs fit easily under the bracers and the scale shirt of armor fit as comfortably as his normal silk shirts did."Okay, that should do it. I don't look goofy or stupid do I?" Ranma asked, turning in a little circle so that Cologne could get a better view of him.  
  
Cologne smirked and picked up the circlet. She fit it on his head and said,"There, you look very dashing."  
  
Ranma had no idea what 'dashing' meant, but he did know that he wasn't going to where the crown.   
  
Before Ranma could take it off, Cologne said."If you want the armor to be anything more than simple metal, you have to wear it too, to complete the enchantment." Cologne looked at a small plate anchored to the rack that Ranma had taken the armor from."Are you going to want any weapons?"  
  
Ranma shook his head."Nah, if it's anything like that sword Kuno had I could accidentally kill someone."  
  
Sound reasoning."I'll accompany you to a ring room."  
****  
  
"Waaaaahhhhh, my daughter hates me!!! Waaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!" wailed Soun as Genma led him out of the tent.  
  
"Calm down Tendo, we'll get this all straightened out. We've just got to get hold of my sorry excuse for a son and this whore he's shacked up with and lay down the law. As soon as I start questioning Ranma's honor and calling him a girl he'll give in."  
  
"Waaaaahhhhhhh!!! You're so much smarter than me, waaaaahhhhhh!!!"  
  
Genma began the mental exercises necassary to tune out his friends wailing, but a loud clearing of the throat, the kind used to get someone's attention, drew Genma's attention just like it was meant to.  
  
"Why hello there, my name's Kenji and I couldn't help but hear you talking about my daughter."  
  
Seeing as how the man had been polite and hadn't demanded vengeance for stealling from him like so many strangers did, Genma responded in kind,"No sir, I'm afraid that you're mistaken."  
  
"Oh no, I'm afraid that I'm not mistaken. You see, my daughter just happens to be married to your 'sorry excuse for a son', so that would make her 'the whore', right?" Small arcs of electricity were running up and down Kenji's arms by now, and his eyes were shining just a little more than could be explained by the light of the setting sun striking them.  
  
Genam gulped. This was one of those times where defending one's honor came second with survival winning first. He let the still wailing Soun fall unsupported to the ground and was halfway turned around before the first whip of electricity fell across his back."Oooooooooowwwwwwww!" he screamed.  
****  
  
From his rooftop perch, Ryoga shuddered in sympathy for whatever animal was being tortured. He would have helped it if he could, but the chances of getting off the roof and across the city were slim. He'd likely end up in Tibet again like yesterday. Thankfully it had only taken an hour to find his way back.  
****  
  
Ms. Mizuno had taken up working in one of the hospital tents as a way to pass the time. Juuban General had been overrun by people from the neighboring Paramormal Containment wing. She had just finished bandaging a small boys arm after stitching up the gash he had recieved when he had tripped into a pile of broken glass."There you go. Your mother is waiting outside so run along." She gave the brave little boy a lollipop before he left.  
  
She had not taken another breathe before a trio of soldiers carried in what appeared to be a twitching mass of undercooked meat. The tattered and burnt clothes hinted that it may have been human, but all the smoke was to obscuring to make any guesses concrete.  
  
"Get a fan in here. I need to be able to see what I'm doing." She also didn't particularly care for the scent of roasted human.  
****  
  
Cologne said,"Since you haven't got much experience with the rings, I'll take care of designating your arrival destination. Where exactly do you want to appear?"  
  
"Just drop me off at Furinkan," Ranma said. He was going over what he was going to say to everyone when he showed up after disappearing and getting a wife.  
  
Cologne didn't have to worry about Ranma seeing her key him in to Hawaii since there was no read out display on the rings. She added a day to his travel time so that she could check with Cynthia about sending Margaret. It could be like a little honeymoon.  
  
When Cologne was finished, Ranma stepped through the ring after saying,"Thanks a lot Cologne."  
  
That made her feel a little guilty, but she reminded herself that it was for Ranma's own good.  
****  
  
Satisfied that his relationship with his fellow father-in-law had been firmly established, Kenji went to wash the smell of burnt hair and skin off. Kami knew that Cynthia had blasted him through the roof the last time he had come home with that particular fragrance floating about him.  
  
This time he thought that she might have understood, seeing as how he had been defending his daughter's honor, but it wasn't worth the risk.  
****  
  
Author's Notes: I know that this is a really short chapter, but it felt like a good place to stop and I wanted Ranma's return to Tokyo to be the beginning of the next chapter. Now, a piece of friendly advice for everyone. Go to Napster and download Iron Man by Ozzy Osbourne. It doesn't matter if you don't like rock, just do it. Then turn the song up really loud and play it over and over again. Once you hear it a few times you can hear the story to it. Once you hear the story, just keep listening to it. When the song works its way into your brain you can stop listening to it, but by then you probably won't want to stop. Okay, run along now and download the song.  
  
Oh yeah, another thing. I released a lot of other fics that I never finished or hadn't worked on in a while, but there were 'too' many counting the ones I'm working on now, to continue them all, so could you, my loyal readers, tell me your favorite of them. Whichever gets the most responses will be the one I try to ass to my current worklist. They are New Beginnings, A Better Life, Mind Over Matter, or the trio of WoT ideas(in the case of the WoT ideas, tell me which one, 1, 2, or 3)  
  
dark_phoneix@hotmail.com 


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